Srinagar, Apr 26: Accusing the National Conference president of pushing JKLF chief Muhammad Yasin Malik towards militancy, Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone Friday said that he was pained at the “audaciousness” of Farooq Abdullah’s utterances about Malik.
In a scathing criticism of the former chief minister, Lone in a statement today — written in first-person-singular and directed at Farooq Abdullah — said that he is not only surprised at senior Abdullah’s “utterly disdainful hypocrisy” but also pained at the “audaciousness of his utterances – that he has the nerve to be talking about Yasin Malik.”
Urging Abdullah to jog his memory a bit, Lone pointed out: “Did you (Farooq Abdullah) not as chief minister in1987 chase a young rebellious Yasin Malik from being a rebel within the political system to picking up arms?
“Was it not you as chief minister who imprisoned him before and after 1987 elections? Was it not you as chief minister who ordered his third-degree torture and tortured him so badly that his heart ailment worsened? Was it not you as chief minister who put a bounty of few lakhs on his head?” Lone asked.
“And 22 years later, you are all praise for Yasin Malik and congratulate him for going in for a hunger strike and his readiness to sacrifice his life. If you are so much in love what Yasin is doing, why don’t you suggest the same to your son Omar Abdullah? Why doesn’t he go on a hunger strike and render a sacrifice as you suggest for Yasin? Or are sacrifices meant for other people’s sons?”
Lone said this is nothing but “a shameless elite exhorting the proletariat to sacrifice their lives while the elite and his family will enjoy monarchical concessions!”
Reminding Farooq Abdullah that Yasin Malik was a part of the 1987 elections as a young member of the Muslim United Front (MUF), Lone said that Malik was imprisoned after the rigging of 1987 elections and badly tortured.
Had people like him been allowed to flourish, “he may have been today where your son Omar Abdullah is,” Lone said, adding that while he (Malik) spent decades in jails, “you and your son have prospered”.
Lone said Malik was no doubt rebellious even as a young college-going student but had not lost faith in the ballot. “It was your government which rigged the elections so blatantly that Yasin and scores of others lost faith in the ballot and embraced the gun. That was the start, and till date approximately a lakh of Kashmiris have lost their lives, and you and your ilk continue to flourish. What a shame!”
He said Delhi should also take note that as long as they go on treating the symptoms the disease will persist and never go away.
“I dare Delhi that if you really want a change in Kashmir, if you really have what it takes to bring about a change, go after these white-collar killers like Farooq Abdullah. It is he who is singularly responsible for forcing gun on to the peace-loving Kashmiri people. The day Delhi starts to punish the traditional elite for their sins there will be change,” Lone said.
He said the current policy seems to be victimizing the victims yet again. “The victims of 1987 are being victimized yet again and the only addition is that the perpetrator of the victimization of 1987, Dr Farooq has slipped in and donned the role of a chest-beater, Rudali.”
Lone asked the senior Abdullah to seriously think about atonement. “It is getting rather awkward that he slips in at any given chance and starts wailing and beating his chest incidentally for the sins that he has himself scripted in the past.”
