Indira-Abdullah accord changed J&K’s special status: Sajad Lone
Srinagar, Mar 27: Lashing out at the “double-speak” of National Conference and the Abdullah family, People’s Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone Wednesday said the dynastic rulers of the party are the best separatists when out of power and one of the worst and cruel mainstreamers when they are in power.
“When they are out of power, they remember all erosions made to Article 370, they talk about our special identity, they raise a hue and cry about human right abuses; but when they are in power, they kill with impunity,” Lone said.
In a statement here, Lone argued that it was surprising that the party with the “worst track-record of human right abuses” is sermonising people about killings.
“And it is strange that they lecture people about human right violations, about erosions, about Article 370 when they are ones who violated all of these. We don’t want to rake up history but the people of Jammu and Kashmir deserve to know what happened given that the ones who destroyed the special status are now sermonising.”
He emphasized that the NC cannot keep hoodwinking people in a world where information is easily accessible to all.
Revealing some “lesser-known” and forgotten facts from the history, Sajad Lone said that “Indira-Shiekh (Abdullah) accord of 1975 diluted our special status and transferred maximum powers to Delhi.
“We repeat that one of the most critical events which changed the history of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and drastically altered the relationship between Delhi and Srinagar with transferring maximum powers to Delhi and diluting powers of Srinagar 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 Prime Minister to Chief Minister,” Lone said.
Now, “may we ask Omar Abdullah what was the compulsion for 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 official ratification by an ex-Prime Minister and incidentally Sheikh Abdullah, the only living Prime Minister of the state at that time, did that for them,” Lone added.
He said that erosions to special status is the cost borne by Kashmir to keep Sheikh and National Conference in power.
“Sheikh Abdullah agreed to not reverse the erosions that had taken place – another seal and stamp of shame by National Conference in agreeing not to reverse what had been eroded,” he added.
