National Conference president and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Monday said that “the National Conference did not bring Article 370” and claimed “it was introduced by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1927 to protect the poor people of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from the people of Punjab, who would have settled here taking away their lands and jobs”.
Abdullah claimed that Maharaja Hari Singh “never” wanted to merge J&K with Pakistan or India, and wanted his princely state to be an independent region.
Addressing a public meeting at Barn in Bhalwal area of Jammu district, Abdullah slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party for blaming the NC for ills that plagued the region.
“Its election time and they (BJP) will again rake up same old issue and brainwash you. We didn’t bring Article 370. It was brought by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1927. At that time, there was neither India nor Pakistan. Maharaja harboured fears that the people from Punjab will come and settle here. And poor people of J&K will sell their lands to them. To protect the natives of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, he had brought the law and had safeguarded jobs for them,” he said.
The veteran leader recalled how the maharaja had signed a standstill agreement with Pakistan and at the same time had sought time from the India for taking a decision over the fate of J&K.
{{/usCountry}}The veteran leader recalled how the maharaja had signed a standstill agreement with Pakistan and at the same time had sought time from the India for taking a decision over the fate of J&K.
{{/usCountry}}“Maharaja never wanted to merge J&K with Pakistan or India. He wanted J&K to be an independent region. Pakistan, in the meantime, attacked. Had Sheikh Abdullah and NC not stood with Maharaja, J&K would never have become part of India,” he said.
The veteran leader also regretted that how the people of Jammu had celebrated the revocation of Article 370.
“They did drum beating and celebrated its (Article 370) revocation but today they have also started to feel the heat. Where are the jobs for the people of Jammu?” he asked. Abdullah took pot shots at the government for appointing vice-chancellors from outside J&K.
He criticised the administration for putting a stop to the traditional practice of biannual darbar move, shifting seat of power to Jammu and Srinagar twice a year.
“With a single stroke of pen, the administration put an end to the Darbar Move. Go to the markets of Jammu today and you will find shopkeepers sitting idle,” he said.
Welcomes SC verdict on Bilkis Bano case
Abdullah welcomed the Supreme Court judgment quashing the Gujarat government’s decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case and said the order will be implemented to provide justice to the victim.
The apex court earlier in the day quashed the remission to the 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven of her family members during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat and ordered that they be sent back to jail within two weeks.