Srinagar: Senior Apni Party Leader and Mayor of Srinagar, Junaid Azim Mattu on Saturday condemned the “malicious and self-seeking attempts” by National Conference President and Member of Parliament for Srinagar, Dr. Farooq Abdullah to “scuttle normalcy and record tourism inflow into Kashmir”.
Reacting to Dr. Farooq Abdullah’s speech in the Lok Sabha, Junaid Mattu said that while Dr. Farooq Abdullah had every right to score political points and while Apni Party had no love lost for the BJP or its policies viz-a-viz Kashmir, it was utterly condemnable and tragic that Dr. Farooq went above and beyond to mislead the whole world that Kashmir wasn’t safe for tourism.
“This is a direct attempt to snatch the livelihood of millions of souls in Kashmir who depend on tourism for their survival and livelihood. Dr. Farooq might be oblivious to the enormous economic distress that Kashmir’s tourism sector has witnessed in the recent past but the common man is still recovering from that devastation. While every political party is well within its rights to put forth its political narratives and arguments, it is unfortunate that National Conference cannot look beyond its own partisan interests and is ready to set fire to the economy of Kashmir in its efforts to score political points,” Junaid Mattu said in the statement issued from Apni Party Head Office in Srinagar.
The Apni Party Leader also asked Dr. Farooq Abdullah to introspect and realize that the genesis of all suffering, misery, devastation, and terrorism in Kashmir lies in his brazen and devastating acts of subverting democracy in 1987 to seek political power. “Two entire generations of Kashmiris lost the right to normal life due to Dr. Farooq Abdullah’s and National Conference’s undemocratic and autocratic crackdown on political opponents in 1987. We are still reeling under the aftermath of that subversion and injustice that was perpetrated in broad daylight. As our Party President, Syed Muhammad Altaf Bukhari Sahab rightly spoke about at Soibugh Budgam recently, an entire generation was pushed into the throes of anarchy, violence, and isolation by the National Conference in 1987,” the Apni Party Leader added.
Cautioning National Conference against disrupting normalcy and peace, the Apni Party leader said that while every conscientious Kashmiri was united in their resolve to seek justice and restoration of the constitutional rights and guarantees that were snatched arbitrarily in 2019, nobody had the right to defame and malign Kashmiris in the entire world, especially when their economic survival was at stake.
“Rather than exercising humility and statesmanship and introspecting about his role in setting fire to Kashmir in 1987, Dr. Farooq Abdullah has yet again resorted to the all-familiar tendency of sacrificing Kashmiris and their interests at the altar of his politics. Dr. Sahab, please feel free to speak against the Central Government, its policies, and actions in the fluctuating periods when you and your party are not trying to open back channels with BJP through known intermediaries in Delhi. The duality and hypocrisy are trademark traits of your party and there are no surprises there. It is quite possible, rather probable that NC will be the first party to align with the BJP – as you have already aligned with BJP in the past. However, we beg you to not go out of your way to mislead the entire country and the world about an apparent lack of normalcy in Kashmir. Any disruption in tourism would be devastating for the people of Kashmir,” the Apni Party leader added.
