National Conference president and MP Farooq Abdullah on Thursday described Kashmir as “a political problem” and pitched for meaningful India-Pakistan dialogue on the issue.
“There should be a meaningful, result-oriented dialogue between India and Pakistan. The stakeholders in Afghanistan are nearing a solution notwithstanding the violence that the country is fraught with. Both India and Pakistan should open the channels of dialogue with the people of State living on either side of the Line of Control. It should be followed by a dialogue between India and Pakistan,” said Dr. Abdullah, while speaking on the occasion of 19th death anniversary of his mother in Srinagar.
He called for an all encompassing dialogue. “It will enable both the countries reach a solution, which is acceptable to people living in the different regions of the erstwhile State. I believe we have had enough, if both India and Pakistan have to grow then it is indispensable for them to find solutions to the issues hammering their relation. Any solution, if it has to be a viable one, should offer a win-win situation for the two countries as well as the people living across the erstwhile state,” he said.
On internal politics of the country, Dr. Abdullah said the country he was living in “is poles apart from what it used to be, and what it was desired to be by the founding fathers of the Constitution of India.”
“Today, we have a political dispensation at the helm of affairs at the Centre that is inclined to rob the country of its secular character. The fascist and communal forces are hell bent to change the secular visage of the country. Nonetheless India belongs to all its citizens, the country belongs to all. The country men have to keep it in their mind that the idea of progress is deficient if any community feels left out. India cannot grow if the growth of its minorities is stunted,” he said.
The MP from Srinagar said the catch-words of ‘ Sab Ka Saath Sab Ka Vikas ’ didn’t see any implementation. “We see how our people are being intimidated on the national highway. Every now and then we see the Governor administration come up with reckless diktats of all sorts. I don’t see any of the actions of the Central government reflect their sincerity for the materialisation of the slogan,” said Dr. Abdullah.
