JAMMU: Dr.Farooq Abdullah, who recently said in New Delhi on Feb, 21 that he would never become Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, changed his statement on Tuesday to categorically declare: “I shall never run away from the Kashmir scene.”

He said he had no intention of returning to London for good and would like to retain the leadership of National Conference.

Addressing the close door State leaders conference convened by Panthers Party President Bhim Singh in Jammu, he said that he told Reporters all that in “a fit of despondency.”

Dr.Faroog, who presided over the marathon seven hour session held at Abhinav Theater, declared that secession of Kashmir would be disastrous and against the interests of every Indian Muslim. Accusing Pakistan of spreading false propaganda against India, he cited the incident when he was in Saudi Arabia and was told that Indian Muslims had been denied access to masjids.

He stressed that the solution to the Kashmir tangle lay only in a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan. “Unless Delhi is honest and declares the quantum of autonomy it was going to offer to Kashmiris, things would continue to be as they are,” he said.

He said he had “run away” to London because he had felt like a “prisoner in my own house.”

Dr_Abdullah said his only mistake was accepting a tie-up with the Congress. “Though Rajiv and I were honest about it, our grassroots workers did not accept the accord,” he said.

Dwelling at length on how Muslim fundamentalists had ruined the social structure of Kashmir, Dr_Abdullah said Hindus and Muslims must learn to live with each other.

He called upon all former party men to rejoin his party to help him “kill the devil.”

He indicated that the Center was finalizing a political process in the State and that a “political and economic package” was on the anvil. He added that the Center was ready to talk to the fundamentalists and solve the issue within the framework of the Constitution.

He ruled out any possibility of a dialogue with those who wanted secession of the State from the Indian Union.

Dr_Abdullah, who appeared to have already discussed his plans with the Center, said: “There would be no bungling of funds when I am back.”

 

Article extracted from this publication >>  March 5, 1993