Jammu:

Three youths were injured in a knife attack incident on Sunday at an election rally of the National Conference (NC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district.

The incident happened when the NC chief and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah was present at the venue along with the party candidate.

“There was an election rally by NC in Mendhar area of Poonch district today in which NC president, Dr Farooq Abdullah and party candidate for Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, Mian Altaf Ahmad were also present. A fight took place between two groups on the sidelines of the rally in which three youths sustained knife injuries,” said officials.

“The injured youths were shifted to a government medical college hospital in Rajouri town for specialised treatment. Doctors have described the condition of one of the injured identified as Suhail Ahmad of Mendhar as serious. The other two injured youths admitted to the hospital have been identified as Yasir Ahmad and Imran Ahmad,” the officials further said.

These two injured youths — Yasir Ahmad and Imran Ahmad — fled from the hospital. The officials said, “They fled the hospitals for unknown reasons.”

A case has been registered in this incident and police have started an investigation.

“No arrests have been made so far in this incident,” the officials said.

Meanwhile, people started protests against the incident in Mendhar Chowk and authorities were trying to pacify the protesters.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinagar:

Three generations of the Abdullah family on Monday cast their vote in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, with National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah appealing to people to turn out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.

NC president and former J-K chief minister Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah and his two grandsons and first-time electors Zahir and Zamir” cast their vote at the polling station at the Burn Hall School here.

“We have two first-time voters with us. It is for the first time that three generations of our family are voting together,” Omar Abdullah, also a former chief minister, said.

It is for the first time since 1998 that no member of the Abdullah family is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Srinagar. The only loss the NC suffered on this seat was in the 2014 general elections.

While the BJP, which is in power at the Centre, is not contesting any of the three Lok Sabha seats, including Srinagar, in Kashmir, the party is confident that the elections in the Valley will end the domination of the NC and the PDP in the region.

Supported by the INDIA bloc, the NC has fielded influential Shia leader and former minister Aga Ruhullah Mehdi while the PDP has named its youth unit president Waheed Para as its candidate.

Even though the Srinagar seat was expected to witness a virtually head-on contest between Mehdi and Para, Apni Party’s Mohammad Ashraf Mir and DPAP’s Amir Ahmad Bhat are also in the fray along with 20 others, including two women.

Talking to reporters after voting, he appealed to people to come out and vote as it was the “only democratic way to raise their voice against the decisions taken by the Centre in Jammu and Kashmir”.

The NC leader was referring to the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 that led to the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of J-K into Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The Lok Sabha polls are also the first major election in the Kashmir region after the abrogation of the article, which granted special status to J-K. Omar Abdullah also alleged that NC workers were harassed by the administration ahead of polling in the constituency.

“We have provided to the EC (Election Commission) names of eight of our workers so that they don’t say that we are talking without proof. It was not an exhaustive list but an indicative list. We gave the details of police stations where they were taken. We did not accuse a particular officer, we have said that it was being done by the administration,” the NC leader said.

“We are getting reports from other constituencies. Our polling agents were so scared that many of them did not go to their homes last night, fearing that they might be detained. Some of them slept over with their friends and relatives while some had to spend the night in their cars. If this is free and fair election, then they can keep it at home,” Omar Abdullah said.

In response to a question, he said Apni Party head Altaf Bukhari levelling allegations of harassment by the administration was a “joke”.

“Apni Party levelling these kind of allegations is a joke. All this is being done to benefit them only. Who else is here to contest for the Centre?” he said.

He, however, expressed hope that these incidents would not be repeated.

“Let bygones be bygones. Today is a new day and we hope that our workers will not be harassed like this,” the NC leader said.

Omar Abdullah appealed to people to vote, saying, “There is no boycott or violence, people should come out and vote. This is the only democratic way to raise our voices. So many things have happened which need to be answered by the people and this is the only way to do so.”

“How much effect it will have will be known by the close of the polling. We will have to wait till the evening to see how many voters in Pulwama, Shopian and Srinagar cast their votes. You will have to accept it this time that those who do not vote are doing so voluntarily,” he added.

Farooq Abdullah said while he was happy that elections were being held, it was a matter of regret that key workers of several political parties were detained over the past two days.

“I could not cast a vote in 2014 as I was in hospital. I am happy that I am before you here. But there is a regret that while they say everything is normal and elections are free, they have arrested key workers of several political parties, mostly National Conference, over the past two days,” he said.

“I want to ask the PM (prime minister) and the HM (home minister) why our workers were arrested? Are they scared that they will lose? They will definitely lose, God Willing,” Farooq Abdullah added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinagar:

Responding to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s remark, “PoK will be merged with India,” Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said on Sunday that Pakistan is not wearing bangles and also has atom bombs that will fall on us.

“If the defence minister is saying it, then go ahead. Who are we to stop? But remember, they (Pakistan) are also not wearing bangles. It has atom bombs, and unfortunately, that atom bomb will fall on us,” he said.

Earlier in April, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that considering the development taking place in India, the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) will themselves demand to be with India.

“Don’t worry. PoK was, is and will remain ours,” Mr Singh said, addressing a rally at West Bengal’s Darjeeling, where the BJP had nominated sitting MP Raju Bista.

“India’s power is increasing. India’s prestige is increasing around the world, and our economy is fast progressing. Now our brothers and sisters in PoK will themselves demand to come with India,” Mr Singh further said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of India and added that there is a resolution of the Indian Parliament which states that PoK is part of the country.

He noted that people were made to forget about PoK, however, it is now back in the consciousness of the people of India.

Asked about India’s plans for PoK during an interactive session in Cuttack, Mr Jaishankar responded, “PoK has never been out of this country. It is part of this country. There is a resolution of the Indian Parliament that PoK is very much a part of India. Now, how did PoK, how did other people get control? You know, when you have someone who is not a responsible custodian of a house, someone steals from outside. Now, here you have allowed another country.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jammu:

After People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti expressed unhappiness over the National Conference’s decision to contest all three Lok Sabha constituencies in Kashmir, NC President Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said both parties are part of the INDIA coalition. He asserted that his party would win all three seats in Kashmir for the alliance.

Mehbooba Mufti had on Friday said that the NC’s decision was “disappointing” and a “setback to the hopes of the people of J&K”. She also accused the NC of reducing their Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) to a “joke”.

“I do not know what she (Mufti) had said… National Conference stands on its own feet and has won three seats (in the 2019 general elections). We are part of the alliance and she is also part of the alliance. If the National Conference wins (these seats) again, they will win it for the INDIA alliance and so what is the problem,” Mr Abdullah told reporters here.

The NC leader said he is sure that the INDIA alliance will always grow because it is needed “for the future of India and democracy”. He said that “everybody wants a secular India where we all can live in peace, harmony and progress”.

“India is for all. India is not Pakistan. The Constitution of India was framed on the lines that we are all one. How does it matter what religion you follow, what language you speak and what your culture is? It is a united India,” he said.

Asked about Mehbooba Mufti’s remarks on PAGD, he said assembly elections are coming and “we will see what we will do. I am sure they (BJP-led government) will try to hold the assembly polls with parliamentary elections.”

The NC has announced the party would contest the three seats in Kashmir valley and asked the Congress to contest the two seats in the Jammu region. The party also said there would be a consensus candidate of NC and Congress on the Ladakh seat.

Jammu and Kashmir has five Lok Sabha seats, while Ladakh has one. In the last elections, while the NC won the three seats in Kashmir, the BJP won the two Jammu seats as well as the lone Ladakh seat.

On PAGD, Ms Mufti had said on Friday that it was “difficult to see the unity break”.

“I regret that what we nurtured for five years has been shattered,” she said. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said that had the NC leadership discussed the issue with her, the PDP could have let the NC contest on all three seats in the valley.

However, she said the PDP was still a part of the INDIA bloc and the party would discuss the future strategy with the Congress.

Asked about the formation of a new government in Pakistan and its possible approach towards India, Mr Abdullah on Saturday said Islamabad has to decide whether it wants peaceful relations with India or not.

“What Pakistan does, is their problem. It is their nation and it is for them to decide whether they want to live in peace with our nation or they don’t want to live in peace.

“Kashmir was acceded to India by Maharaja Hari Singh and that accession is even today and that will last forever,” he said, adding, “We are part of India and there is no problem for us. It is for them to decide what they want to do.”

To a query on Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s statement likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Adolf Hitler, he said, “I do not know what he had said and under what conditions”.

“He (Modi) is not a Prime Minister of the BJP. People who voted for him are just 37 per cent but once one becomes a Prime Minister, he represents every Indian. He also represents 1.4 billion when he goes outside the country.

“He represents Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and every other religion, and those who have no religion,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinagar:

Farooq Abdullah, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, took strong exception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks today on Article 370 of the constitution and that it had only helped propagate dynastic rule in the erstwhile state. “If Article 370 was this bad, how did Jammu and Kashmir ever make progress,” he questioned.

PM Modi, in his first visit to Srinagar today since the scrapping of Article 370, had called it a “new Jammu and Kashmir” that was the result of the scrapping of the erstwhile state’s special status.

“For decades, for political gains, Congress and its allies misled people in the name of Article 370. But today there are equal rights and opportunities for all. The people know the truth… they were misled… This is the new Jammu and Kashmir for which we all were waiting,’ he had said.  

Shortly after, Farooq Abdullah — a three-time Chief Minister of the erstwhile state — hit back.

“If Article 370 was this bad — I would like the Prime Minister to re-hear the speech made in the Rajya Sabha by then Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, in which he compared two states. He compared Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir in terms of progress when Article 370 was there,” Farooq Abdullah said.

“Now, if Article 370 and nepotism are responsible, then how did we make that progress? It is the people’s rule, I lost the election as a chief minister. So, where is the dynastic rule?” Mr Abdullah said. “This dynastic rule is a kind of common voice I heard also in parliament. In every speech that PM makes, he makes a particular target on it”.

The former Chief Minister also pointed out that the scrapping of Article 370 has made education expensive.

Education from the level of primary schools to universities was free, he said. “Today, education is only free up to the 14th class. In the universities, you have to pay now. An honest commission has to be put to see what was there before the revoke of Article 370 and what was is thereafter,” Mr Abdullah said.