The Hindu : Kabuli quits BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 03, 2002

National

National

Kabuli quits BJP

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR APRIL 2. The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a severe setback when its only known Muslim face in the Jammu and Kashmir State unit, Abdur Rasheed Kabuli, resigned from both the post as well as primary membership of the party.

The only credible party leader in the Kashmir Valley, Mr. Kabuli had joined the BJP in 1998 and was appointed vice-president of the State unit the same year. Peeved over the lack of response to his letter to the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, which he had sent a few days ago, Mr. Kabuli sent in his resignation to the party high command. "I have resigned from the post as also from primary membership of the party,'' he told The Hindu.

He expressed serious concern over the plight of Muslims in Gujarat, who according to him, were at the mercy of not only Hindu extremists but also a Government patronising rioters.

Stating that Mr. Vajpayee had become a prisoner of the Sangh Parivar, he said he had sought clarification from the Prime Minister on issues such as Gujarat, party MP, Vinay Katiyar's statement on Hazratbal, and the overall policy for Kashmir but "he has disappointed me''. "My trust in the party leadership has collapsed," he added.

A former MP, Mr. Kabuli had resigned from the National Conference in 1989 and floated his own party, the J & K Democratic Front. Amid growing speculations on whether he would join the NC or the People's Democratic Party (PDP) led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, he said: "I have not made up my mind as yet. I will explain the reasons for resigning from the BJP and my future strategy in the next few days."

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National