Monday, Aug 26, 2002
Monday, Aug 26, 2002 |
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Jammu & Kashmir
By Our Staff Reporter
``We should accept that PoK is not ours. We can keep issuing statements and pass resolutions, but we cannot get it back,'' Dr. Abdullah said at the Press Club of India while releasing a book "The Black Book of Gujarat''. The book on communal violence in the State is edited by M.L. Sondhi and Apratim Mukarji. Its contributors include Fali S. Nariman, Imtiaz Ahmad, C. R. Irani, Kanwal S. Rekhi, A.N. Dar, Roger Fisher and R. K. Amin. The National Conference leader, who had been advocating attack of terrorist training camps across the border, called for "forgiving and forgetting the past mistakes'' of the Pakistani military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, for the sake of peace in the region. "The problem cannot be solved through guns and violence. It can be resolved only through dialogue.'' In his over an hour-long speech, Dr. Abdullah alleged that the schedule for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls have been announced without consulting him. "The Chief Minister did not know about the schedule when it was announced. I first came to know about it only through the media,'' he claimed. However, he asserted that elections in the State would be free and fair. "J. M. Lyngdoh (the Chief Election Commissioner) would ensure it,'' Dr. Abdullah said, adding that his Government was fully co-operating with the Election Commission. Referring to the communal violence in Gujarat, he said the country was passing through the same situation as it did in 1947 immediately after partition. Blaming the fundamentalists of both Hindu and Muslim communities for murder of humanity, he said: "Those fighting in the name of Allah or Ram have only lust for power and nothing beyond that. It is not just innocent lives but the nation's secular ethos that has been murdered,'' he said. Dr. Abdullah blamed the political leadership for the present situation, which instead of uniting the nation has only helped in dividing society. "India is going further down,'' he said. Expressing his deep frustration and anguish over the way politics was shaped in the country, he said: "I do not want to be in politics now.'' Refusing to comment on the controversy surrounding the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, Dr. Abdullah regretted that the religious identity of Mr. Lyngdoh was being dragged into the controversy. However, he cautioned not to push Mr. Modi to the wall. "Do not push him to the wall. In that case, he would become a hardcore fundamentalist which will not be good for the country. Try to win him. Bring him back,'' he said. Earlier, the former Foreign Secretary, Muchkund Dubey, said secularism in India was reduced to mere slogans. "Politics has come to such a low that remaining in power has become the sole aim of politicians,'' he said.
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