1975 accord changed J&K’s special status: Sajad Lone

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Srinagar: Lashing out at the double speak of National Conference and the Abdullah family, People’s Conference Chairman, Sajad Gani Lone said that the dynastic rulers of party are of the best separatists when out of power and one of the worst & cruel mainstreamers when they are in power.

“When they are out of power, they remember all erosions made to Article 370, they talk about our special identity, they raise a hue and cry about human right abuses but when they are in power, they kill with impunity,” he said.

Lone argued that it was surprising that the party with the worst track record of human right abuses is sermonising people about killings. “And it is strange that they lecture people about human right violations, about erosions, about Article 370 when they are ones who violated all of these. We don’t want to rake up history but the people of Jammu and Kashmir deserve to know what happened given that the ones who destroyed the special status are now sermonising.”

He emphasized that National Conference cannot keep hoodwinking people in a world where information is easily accessible to all.

Revealing some lesser known and forgotten facts from the history, Sajad Lone said that Indira-Sheikh accord of 1975 diluted our special status and with transferred maximum powers to Delhi.

“We repeat that one of the most critical events which changed the history of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and drastically altered the relationship between Delhi and Srinagar with transferring maximum powers to Delhi and diluting powers of Srinagar was the Indira-Sheikh accord of 1975. It is here that the former Prime Minister of the state, chose to officially ratify the the official demotion of Prime Minister to Chief Minister. May we ask Omar Abdullah what was the compulsion for Congress to give power on a platter to Sheikh Abdullah? There was no strife. There was no agitation. There was no militancy. The only reason was that they wanted an official ratification by an ex Prime Minister and incidentally Sheikh Abdullah, the only living Prime Minister of the state at that time, did that for them”, he added.

Sajad said that erosions to special status is the cost borne by Kashmir to keep Sheikh and National Conference in power.

“Sheikh Abdullah agreed to not reverse the erosions that had taken place – another seal and stamp of shame by National Conference in agreeing not to reverse what had been eroded”, he added.