Kochi: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said here on Thursday that if one questioned the special constitutional status of J&K then one would also have to question the state's accession to India.
"If these special circumstances were not created, the accession would not have taken place," Omar Abdullah said while talking about the subject 'View From the Top: How Kashmir Wants India to Be?' at the Manorama News Conclave 2023 held in Kochi on Thursday.
He said Pakistan was formed on the basis of religion. "But even being a Muslim majority state, J&K threw its lot behind secular India," he said. "We joined an India that offered us acceptance and secularism but also an India that was willing to put forward a framework (Article 370) that allowed the accession to take place," Abdullah said.
He also questioned the central government's logic that Article 370 was a temporary measure. "If the accession is permanent, the framework of accession should also be permanent," he said. Abdullah said the people of J&K have not questioned the accession. If so, what he left unsaid was that Indians in turn should not question the existence of Article 370.
He said Article 370, beyond the symbolism, gave the people of the land various protections; to land, to jobs and to domicile. "It is these protections that have now been done away with," Abdullah said.
He said it was also misleading to say such protections exist only for J&K. "There are many other states in the country that enjoy such protections. There are other places in India where a Keralite cannot purchase land," he said, and added: "But it is easy to isolate J&K and create a narrative of hate as it is a Muslim-majority state."
The former J&K chief minister said the Supreme Court verdict on the abrogation of Article 370 would be delivered this year itself, at the most before the middle of December. "One of the judges is due to retire by the middle of December and this necessitates that the verdict be delivered before the retirement," he said. Also, Abdullah said the top court had linked the postponement of Assembly elections in the state to the question of Article 370. "So we hope that the verdict on Article 370 would also have a mention of the elections," he said
"We are already five years too late," Abdullah said about the absence of elections in the state. "It is frustrating how often we are led to believe elections would happen and then betrayed," he said.
Abdullah was also frustrated with leading Opposition parties for their silence on J&K. "At every meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), we have had three, I have asked our partners to have a mention in the final statement of the need to restore the democratic process in J&K. But when the final statement is out, J&K will not be there," he said.
Nonetheless, Abdullah was scathing in his attack on the BJP. He said the previous Manmohan Singh government had done more for the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley than the Narendra Modi dispensation.
"If they claim peace has returned to J&K, then the biggest benchmark against which this claim should be tested is the return of Pandits to the Valley," he said. "Truth is, in the last few years the Pandits have gone back because of the targeted killings in the Valley," he said.
