Former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has said that his National Conference (NC) was excluded from the Delimitation Commission in May, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allegedly sought to create Hindu rule in the Muslim-majority region and divide the Territory. of the Union on religious lines. Through the process.
In March, the Center established the commission to redesign assembly and parliamentary electoral districts based on the recent census in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. NC chose not to participate in May. “That’s because we told them to their faces that we don’t believe your delimitation. The BJP has a purpose. Want that at J&K [Jammu & Kashmir], a Hindu majority arises, and the Muslim majority falls, ”he told HT in a joint interview with his son and another former chief minister, Omar Abdullah. “Can you top what the government of India is trying to do here?”
Farooq Abdullah said that when he was prime minister, the assembly of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir decided to conduct the delineation exercise together with the rest of the country in 2026. “So why has the Center suddenly advanced it? They want to divide us on the Hindu-Muslim line and create Hindu rule. That will never happen, ”he said.
Farooq Abdullah was one of three North Carolina MPs named as members of the commission.
Omar Abdullah called the commission a product of constitutional changes introduced in August last year to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and divide it into two Union territories. “When we don’t recognize those changes, how can we recognize this panel? By participating in their proceedings, we will essentially give credence to the J&K Reorganization Act of 2019. When we are fighting this Act, there is no question of involvement. “
Omar Abdullah said that the commission’s membership does not give anyone the power of veto. “Our three deputies [members of Parliament] You may have been able to share your views, but that would not have been binding on the commission. Our participation would have been used as a rubber stamp ”.
The political environment in Jammu and Kashmir is changing again one year after constitutional changes that prompted radical measures, including the imprisonment of hundreds of people, to prevent protests against it. Farooq Abdullah, who was among the three former chief ministers also detained, has emerged as the main driver and pivot in the formation of a conglomerate of six regional parties, some of them sworn rivals, which has posed the first challenge to the Center by reaffirming the commitment to the Gupkar Declaration linked to the demand for restoration of special status.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the delineation exercise in his Independence Day speech, saying it is underway and assembly elections will follow in Jammu and Kashmir.
Also read: Farooq Abdullah meets with more leaders of the National Conference
When asked if he would participate in the elections, Farooq Abdullah said: “Any decision [on contesting] It will depend on my party first and we will answer a call subject to the situation. We will talk to other stakeholders about the Gupkar Declaration. If we are united in this exercise, we will accept them and decide ”.
Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah were released in March, while another former chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, remains in custody under the draconian Public Security Law that allows imprisonment for up to two years without trial.
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