National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah Saturday said there is the need for Indo-Pak dialogue and Line of Control should be converted into Line of Peace and Goodwill. He said it will help in unhindered people to people exchange and trade between divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Sooner the two nations appreciate the ground realities better it would be for bringing thaw in the relations and ending hostilities of all sorts”, Dr Farooq Abdullah said while addressing a rally at Mandi, close to the Line of Control, in Poonch.
He said the wars in the past seven decades have not changed the reality of Line of Control. He said the border hostilities were detrimental for both India and Pakistan and any full-fledged conflict will lead to devastation and destruction in the region.
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Farooq said, areas like Hajipeer and Chamb, captured in 1965 war had to be returned back as per mutual understanding. He said his assertion over the Line of Control may be criticized and contested but reality cannot be changed.
He said conversion of LoC into Line of Peace will benefit peoples living along the borders on both sides, who have been braving the brunt of hostilities.
He said the unimaginable sufferings caused to border dwellers due to dislocation from their homes and hearths in the wake of shelling and cross LoC firing is unfortunate and this has become a routine since the past few years.
Referring to obtaining situation across the State, the National Conference chief said the Centre should resolve the issues which are essentially political in nature and try to win over the alienated hearts and minds by shunning the policy of creating divisions.
He said the claims that demonetization had put an end to stone pelting in the Valley have fallen flat as the youth were now taking to guns.
He said the situation therefore cannot be allowed to drift any more and called for earnest initiatives to reach out to the people. He cautioned the Centre against taking the people of Jammu and Kashmir for granted and ignoring their legitimate aspirations.
Dr Abdullah said the country is passing through a difficult phase as attempts are being made to divide the society in the name of religion and caste and by encouraging sectarian divide.
He referred to the violence over dilution of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and said machinations are being engineered to end reservation. He said the present dispensation at the Centre is working against the interests of farmers, weaker sections, and minorities and expressed concern over growing suicides of peasants.
He said despite seven decades of independence, the farmers are continuously been exploited across the country.
On the contrary, he said his father Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah brought a revolutionary Land Reforms Act which made tillers masters of their holdings overnight.
National Conference President blamed the PDP-BJP dispensation in Jammu and Kashmir for failing on deliverance front, saying developmental inertia has taken toll of various utility services.
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He said lack of accountability and misgovernance have added to the miseries of the people, who are feeling let down on every front.
