Sajad claims Indira-Sheikh accord changed special status of state

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 27

Lashing out at what he termed as the “doublespeak” of the National Conference and the Abdullah family, People’s Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone said the dynastic rulers of the party were the best separatists and one of the worst and cruel mainstreamers when they were in power.

“When they are out of power, they remember all erosions made to Article 370. They talk about our special identity, they raised a hue and cry about the human rights violations but when they are in power, they kill with impunity,” Lone said in a statement on Wednesday.

Lone argued that it was surprising that the party with the worst track record of the human rights violation was sermonising people about killings.

“And it is strange that they lecture people about the human right violations, erosions and about Article 370 when they are the ones who violated all these. We don’t want to rake up history but the people of J&K deserve to know what happened, given that the ones who destroyed the special status are now sermonising.”

He said the NC “could not keep hoodwinking” people in a world where information was easily accessible to all, adding that the Indira-Sheikh accord of 1975 “diluted our special status and transferred the maximum powers” to Delhi.

“We repeat that one of the most critical events that changed the history of the special status of J&K and drastically altered the relationship between Delhi and Srinagar with transferring the maximum powers to the Centre was the Indira-Sheikh accord of 1975. It is here that the former Prime Minister of the state chose to officially ratify the official demotion of the Prime Minister to the Chief Minister,” Sajad added.

“May we ask Omar Abdullah what was the compulsion for the Congress to give power on a platter to Sheikh Abdullah? There was no strife. There was no agitation. There was no militancy. The only reason was that they wanted an official ratification by a former Prime Minister and incidentally, Sheikh Abdullah, the only living Prime Minister of the state at that time, did that for them,” he added.

Sajad said the erosions to the special status were the cost borne by Kashmir to keep the Sheikh and the NC in power.