Baramulla, Oct 24 (KNO): Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah on Saturday urged people to show courage and stand together to defend their rights, warning that they risked perishing if they failed to confront challenges.
Addressing a workers’ convention in Baramulla, Dr Farooq said Jammu and Kashmir is going through difficult times and people needed to stand together to bring about change. “If you have the courage, we will fight them; if you don’t, you will perish,” Dr Farooq said, as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), urging people to speak the truth and stand firmly for their rights.
“We would have vanished, but having courage and fighting back will help us persist,” he said.
He said people should not expect change to come on its own, stressing that collective efforts were necessary to secure their rights. “We do not want to go against the country, but we want to tell them (our neighbours) to change themselves,” he said.
The NC president said the Centre had promised to restore statehood after delimitation and elections, but the commitment remained unfulfilled. “We are going through tough times. In Delhi, we were promised statehood after delimitation and elections, but that is nowhere,” he said.
Dr Farooq further urged people to rise above religious and sectarian differences and raise a united voice, saying unity was essential to address the challenges facing Jammu and Kashmir. “Rulers come and go. They oppress, but that doesn’t last,” he said.
He also expressed concern over the lack of awareness among young people about Jammu and Kashmir’s history, urging them to understand the region’s past and the circumstances that shaped its political journey.
“We never said we are not Indians, but we keep on reiterating that we have joined Gandhi’s India, Nehru’s India,” he said.
Dr Farooq also criticised the Peoples Democratic Party, alleging that its alliance with the BJP had contributed to the loss of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019.—(KNO)