Don’t become tool in hands of BJP, RSS: Mirwaiz to KPs
Stating that people will oppose separate townships for Kashmiri Pandits tooth and nail, the Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Friday asked the migrant community not get “used as a tool of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).”
“They (RSS-BJP) are using Kashmiri Pandits as a tool to meet their ends. They use these people (Pandits) to remain in power,” Mirwaiz said, addressing Friday congregation at Jamia Masjid here.
He said people will welcome Pandits whole-heartedly. “Pandits are a part and parcel of our society. We are not against their return. But any attempt to settle Pandits in separate townships will be fought tooth and nail by the people of Kashmir,” he said.
“I appeal people to remain cautious as conspiracies are being hatched to divide Kashmir on communal lines.”
“On behalf of Kashmiri Muslims, I make an appeal to Kashmiri Pandit community to not look towards the government but towards Kashmiri Muslims, vis-à-vis return to the Valley. You should trust fellow Kashmiri Muslims,” he said.
Mirwaiz said Kashmiri Pandit community should consult their fellow members who either stayed back or returned to Kashmir and seek their advice on the issue.
He said Kashmiri Pandits should understand that successive governments at the Centre have “exploited their suffering for furthering their own agendas as is clear from its security-centric and communal-thinking approach. This approach will only prove detrimental to the interests of the Pandit community cannot live in a vacuum once they come here. Instead of becoming tools in the hands of these forces, Pandits should assert themselves and live with dignity.”
He said separate townships for Pandits is part of a conspiracy to abolish Article 370.
“Article 370 will not be applicable in these separate townships. The people from other parts of India will live there later,” he said, adding, “Article 370 will get abrogated gradually. We won’t allow it at all.”
He also appealed people of Kashmir to observe a complete shutdown (on Saturday) against “composite townships.”
Taking a dig at Peoples Democratic Party, the Hurriyat chairman said the party, like National Conference and Congress, is “hand-in-glove with New Delhi to hatch conspiracies against people of Kashmir.”
Mirwaiz further said it is unfortunate that “shameful legacy of doublespeak of pro-India parties in J&K right from 1947, continues.”
He said their lust to stay in power makes them say one thing in Srinagar and another in New Delhi.
Mirwaiz said the identification of three areas for proposed townships for KPs—Khanpora Baramulla, Hal area between Pulwama and Shopianand Mattann in Anantnag, as was disclosed in the budget presented in J&K Legislative Assembly—was a matter of grave concern.
“What has also been exposed is the proposal that article 370 will not be applicable to these areas which means that people from other parts of India will also be settled in these townships. This move is in keeping with the Government of India’s agenda of settling outsiders in J&K to change the demographic composition of the state,” he said.
Lashing out at PDP, Mirwaiz said they (PDP leaders) should realize that people of Kashmir cannot be taken for a ride and very well understand their “ploy of running with the hare and hunting with the hound.”
He said people of Kashmir are conscious and won’t allow any conspiracy. “How long can they befool people of Kashmir,” he said.
He said PDP’s tall claims are proving to be a big hoax.
“They claimed to get power projects, release political prisoners, but did nothing,” he said, adding, “The party is following New Delhi’s agenda in letter and spirit. Following New Delhi’s agenda has remained legacy for mainstream parties since 1947.”
Mirwaiz later led a protest against separate townships.
