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Tariq Bhat
Tariq Bhat

JAMMU AND KASHMIR

Kashmir acceded to a secular India not to Hindu Rashtra, says Farooq Abdullah

PTI11_27_2015_000205A [File] Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah | PTI

The National Conference president and three-time chief minister Farooq Abdullah has said that Kashmir didn't accede to a Hindu Rashtra but a secular India.

In an exclusive chat with THE WEEK, Farooq said his father, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, had supported the accession by Maharaja with a secular India.

He said the rise of the Hindu right wings and the talks of Hindu Rashtra were scaring minorities and other religions.

''It is against the Constitution of India,'' he said. '' It is scaring all of us and those living in Kashmir.''

He said the abysmal low turnout of 7. 14 per cent in Srinagar parliamentary constituency was due to the lack of confidence in the political system. ''It is the failure of the government if the people have not come to vote,'' he said. 

Farooq, who is vying for the constituency along with Nazir Ahmed of the PDP, said it is for the Election Commission of India to decide whether to hold a repoll in Srinagar due to poor turnout. 

Srinagar constituency will witness a repoll at some booths on Sunday and the result would be out on April 15. 

Farooq said he felt sorry for the loss of eight lives during the violence on April 9 when the polls were held in Srinagar constituency which comprises the districts of Srinagar, Budgam, and Ganderbal. 

Most of the anti-election violence was witnessed in Budgam where seven protesters were killed and several others injured. 

The NC president said the postponement of polls for Anantnag constituency to May 25 was not a good idea.

"They should hold it now or after the tourist season,'' he said. "We have registered the protest with the Election Commission of India.'' 

The senior leader was defeated by Tariq Hamid Karra in the parliament elections in 2014. He could not contest the 2015 assembly polls because he was recovering from a kidney transplant that was donated by his wife Moli Farooq in London.

Farooq's victory could be a shot in the arm for the NC and the Congress, both of who are in an alliance against the PDP in the bypolls in Srinagar and Anantnag.

The PDP has fielded Mufti Tassaduq Hussian, brother of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, in Anantnag against G.A. Mir of the Congress who is supported by the NC.

After the killing of eight civilians and low turnout on April 9 in Srinagar, Tassaduq appealed to the Election Commission to postpone the polls that were to be held on April 13 for Anantnag

Political observers are unanimous that the PDP candidate made an appeal for the postponement for fear of losing the elections in his first outing due to violence and low turnout.

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