ational Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday rejected Union home minister Amit Shah’s charge on regional parties’ links with separatism in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the NC made sacrifices and many of its leaders and workers were killed by terrorists during the past 35 years.
“I do not want to be sidetracked by some of the other things that Shah said about guns and stones. The sacrifices of my colleagues over the last 35 years where scores of NC leaders and workers have been killed or injured by these very guns Amit Shah ji accused us of distributing is the only answer this accusation needs,” Abdullah said in a five-page statement.
At a rally on Wednesday, Shah had said there were two models available for the people — one of Prime Minister Modi which talks about development, peace and unity, and increases employment avenues, and the other one is the Gupkar model which let the Pulwama attack happen.
Abdullah issued a white paper on development undertaken in Jammu and Kashmir during the rule of “Abdullah and Sons” — as Shah referred the family in his speech at a rally in Baramulla district — to counter the allegations of corruption.Enumerating major steps taken by National Conference founder and his father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah as the head of the state, Farooq said this list is by no means complete but just a snapshot of some of the works done. Among other things, he listed the institution of single-line administration, abolition of landed estates and giving land to landless peasants, free education up to university level, establishment of the University of Jammu and Kashmir, adult education centres, Jabri schools for children and constitution of district development boards constituted in 1970s.The other steps taken by the NC government included setting up the Gujjar and Bakarwal advisory board, tertiary care hospital SKIMS, agricultural universities in Jammu and Srinagar, government colleges for women and 50% reservation for women in medical and dental colleges, he said.
The incumbent regime has and may again claim credit for all of this but propaganda and facts are two different things, he added.
