Farooq Abdullah: Govt should understand why Pandits don’t want to go to Valley

New Delhi: Former J&K Chief Minister and National Conference (JKNC) president Farooq Abdullah criticised Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s announcement of not providing salary to Kashmiri Pandits who failed to join duty, and said that he should understand the reason behind the Pandits not wanting to go to the valley.

While addressing the media in the Parliament House complex on Friday, Abdullah said that the Pandits do not go to the valley because of the lack of security.

He raised questions on the government’s decision to end terrorism by the abrogation of Article 370 and said that terrorism in the valley existed even after years of revoking the territory’s special status.

Abdullah took a dig at the CAA & NRC and questioned the need of a citizenship card despite the existence of the Voter ID card, Aadhaar card and PAN card.

Replying to a question about tensions with China, he said that the Indian Army was prepared to repay that country in its own language.

Abdullah commented on the issue of the Russia-Ukraine war, and said that the Prime Minister himself said that the era of war was over, so talks should continue.

Responding to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui’s statement on the country being unsafe for Muslims, the former Chief Minister hummed the song ‘Jeena yahan marna yahan, iske siwa jaana kahan..’ and said that the increasing hatred would not be contained by leaving the country, but instead should be fought against together by staying. – IANS