National Conference (NC) president and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday said the youngsters of Kashmir “were laying down their lives for their rights”.
Apparently referring to militants and youth who disrupt anti-militancy operations, Dr. Abdullah said: “These boys are rendering sacrifices not to become MLAs, MPs or Ministers... but to demand their right: ‘this is our land and we are its rightful owners’.”
He said there was growing anger in J&K because the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had “joined hands with the communal forces”.
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“These young men are full of resentment because of how New Delhi has always and continues to see and define them through the narrow, conventional prism of law and order dynamics.”
Calling for New Delhi’s engagement with the “alienated and anguished youth”, he said, “We are not condoning violence or turmoil — nor are we supporting strife. We are seeking that the root cause of alienation be addressed rather than continue treating the symptoms with administrative mechanisms.”