Srinagar, Nov 21: Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairperson Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai on Wednesday said that former Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister and National Conference founder was not a Lion.
Sherai was addressing mourners at slain Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Mir Hafizullah’s residence.
“What has he (Abdullah) ever done to be called a lion?” Sehrai asked and added that “it is the Sheikh’s mistakes that the people of Kashmir are bearing the brunt for.”
Sherai said that Sheikh’s first mistake in 1947 could be forgiven and it can be assumed that he was betrayed the first time. “He then repeatedly betrayed the people of Kashmir, knowing well whatever he was up to. Accord of 1975 being one such example,” Sherai said and added that “we as the people are to be blamed as well.”
“It was the people who used to say ‘Alle kari wangan kari babb kari lo lo’,” he said.
“As per the inputs available with us, the Indian government has reactivated a force like Ikhwan, while the weapons among these people have been distributed covertly to silence pro-freedom leadership, especially TeH and Jamaat-e-Islami activists,” Sehrai alleged.
Meanwhile, National Conference on Wednesday rejected the “coarse allegations” of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai as derogatory, and a “considered attempt” to gain prominence in the political horizon of Kashmir.
In a statement released from party headquarters here, NC general secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar said that Sehrai didn’t have the gumption to condemn people responsible for the killing of his colleague.
“Strangely Sehrai is blaming a person who died in 1982 for the death of his party member. This is beyond comprehension. Sheikh Sahib was the tallest leader our state has ever produced. The title of Sher-e-Kashmir that was accorded to him was given by people who believed in his leadership and judgment,” Sagar said.
“The last farewell that people gave to Sher-e-Kashmir was reflective of his stature and political standing. Even his detractors appreciate what Sheikh Sahib did for our state and its people. Number of intellectuals in India and Pakistan paid glorious tributes to Sher-e-Kashmir on his death. MD Taseer, famous Pakistani Urdu poet and writer had said that Kashmir owes its nationalism to Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah,” Sagar said.
Sagar said that “Sehrai and his ideologue party (Jamaat-e-Islami) contested elections when Sheikh Sahib was under penitentiary and confinement.
“Instead of supporting Sher-e-Kashmir, they went ahead and took part in Assembly elections in 1971 against the wishes of people of Kashmir,” he said.
NC general secretary said that Sehrai owes an explanation to the people of the state. “What have they been able to achieve in all these years except deaths?” he asked.
Sagar said that the tributes that poured at the demise of Sher-e-Kashmir from all the state heads around the world reveal his stature.
“Sheikh Sahib’s personality and achievements are too big to be belittled by people like Sehrai who have now resorted to name calling,” he said.
Sagar maintained that Sheikh Sahib was a “visionary leader” and the “champion” of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
“Sehrai is trying to find substratum in the political landscape of Kashmir by blaming the tallest leader,” he said.
