Srinagar: National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah Monday said there was a groundswell of anger against BJP across Jammu and Kashmir, and the people of the erstwhile state have made it a point to stand up for their rights.
He said the NC will make every effort to give voice to aspirations and demands of people of J&K.
Abdullah addressed a working committee meeting of district Budgam at the party headquarters here.
“Rather than inching towards promised normalcy, J-K has only seen worsening of the situation. It continues to witness political vacuum, unemployment, development deficit, and misgovernance. The troubled legacy of 2019 and subsequent enactments paint a bleak picture of the region’s future,” he said.
The former chief minister said the trajectory of J-K’s pluralistic identity has been fashioned by the NC and the party will defend it with all its might.
“The real object of BJP is to push the real representative voices to the background and denude its plural and unique identity. The people of J-K: Kashmiris, Dogras, Gujjars, and Paharis won’t allow this to happen.
“The mood and sentiment of the people in Chenab, Pir Panjal and everywhere else is the same. People of J-K, no matter which region, religion and division they belong to, have made it a point to stand up for their rights. There was a groundswell of anger against BJP, and its A’ and B’ teams across J-K,” he said.
Exhorting the party functionaries to intensify their public contact, Abdullah said “our cadre has to reach every doorstep and educate people about the imminent threats to our future”.
“Forces, which we are fighting, are conniving to weaken our political voice by creating divisions among us. They are working day in and day out to divide us on a regional, religious, and cultural basis.
“The efforts to divide us will receive further increase, as the people are seeking answers from them now. Any claim of normalcy and development in Jammu and Kashmir at present looks like a far cry from what the BJP government had intended while taking the decisions of August 5, 2019,” he said.
During the meeting, the functionaries gave their constructive feedback to the party president about the ongoing party affairs and other organisational matters. PTI

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Press Trust of India