JAMMU:A Senior National Conference leader and brother of Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Dr. Mustafa Kamal, has opposed the idea of installing any interim government in Jammu and Kashmir, but favored early elections in the state.
Talking to a selected group of media persons in Jammu, Dr. Mustafa ruled out any meeting point with the Congress in the forth-coming elections. “We have been ditched time. and again and both the parties have distanced too apart to form an alliance,” he said.
He said that any move to install an interim or contingency government before elections would be counter productive, as it would appear to be a back door entry to power, though a provision does exist in the Jammu and Kashmir constitution in this regard. Dr. Mustafa Kamal, who also served as a minister in the NC-Congress coalition ministry, stayed all along in the valley and practised his medical profession, at Tangmarg, unlike most of the other Kashmiri leaders.
He said that initially people in Kashmir were swayed by the religious emotions and catchy slogans of the so-called “Azadi” and supported the militant movement. People felt that militants would provide something “new or unknown” to them but with the passage of time they understood the ulterior motives of their mentors. He said that people now understood that they wanted to throw National Conference out of power and gain control over the affairs of the state. He said that militants had indulged in selective killing of politicians, intellectuals and members of the minority under a definite plan to make Kashmir leaderless. He said that had Dr. Farooq Abdullah stayed in valley, he would been eliminated like Mirwaiz Moulvi Farooq.
The National Conference leader claimed that Militants had caused large scale atrocities on the people and the common man has turned against them. He said that businessmen, employees and rural folk became the victims of their atrocities like rape, extortion, loot and torture and the common man was deprived of their livelihood.
He viewed that people would participate in the electoral process and the militants would not be able to thwart the process against the wishes of people.
He said that Pakistan was under immense pressure both externally as well internally. The United States has also asked Pakistan to stop any kind of formal or informal support and that country would be happy to see elections to have her hands free from the present controversy over Kashmir. He also referred to the statement of the PaK Prime Minister, Sardarabdul Qayoom Khan favoring elections here and viewed it as an indication of the mood of that country.
On the question of reactivation of his party cadre in Kashmir valley, Dr. Kamal said that his party needed a weapon to go to the people and the Center should accede to their demand for more autonomy to the state.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 10, 1995
