Congress responsible for all ills in J

Srinagar, Apr 27 (UNI) The National Conference (NC), the main opposition party in Jammu and Kashmir, today blamed the Congress for all the ''ills'' in the troubled state.

In a statement here, senior NC leader Sheikh Mustafa Kamal said the Congress was responsible for the miserable plight of the people.

He was reacting to a recent statement by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at Larnoo in Anantnag district in which he had said that the poor were being exploited by some political parties.

Mr Azad should go for self introspection and he would find the real culprit, Dr Kamal said.

He said Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was the member of the Congress for about 27 years from 1957.

Raising voice and waging peaceful political struggle to preserve the hard won freedom from the centuries-old oppressive monarchial rule cannot be termed as exploitation by any stretch of the imagination, the NC leader said.

''By making such remarks, Mr Azad conveniently forgets the role his party had played in 1953 in Jammu and Kashmir when constitution and law were thrown to the wind and democracy was inflicted with deep wounds.'' Dr Kamal alleged all means were employed to oppress and suppress the people of the state and imprison the popular leadership for 22 years from 1953 to 1975.

In 1953, the security forces gunned down about 1500 people to suppress the popular uprising against the ''undemocratic and illegal action'' of August 9 in that year, he added.

The NC leader alleged that the political events of July 2, 1984 and January 18, 1990 were ''forced by New Delhi throwing the state into a bloody turmoil''.

''The first blood was drawn by then Governor Jagmohan on January 21, 1990 when he ordered indiscriminate firing on peaceful and innocent protestors at Gaw Kadal in which 58 people lost their lives followed by a carnage a few days later at Hawal putting to death about 70 mourners part of the funeral procession of Maulvi Mohammad Farooq, the then Mirwaiz of Kashmir,'' he alleged.

Dr Kamal alleged that Mr Sayeed, as the then Union Home Minister, had masterminded these events. ''Mr Sayeed along with Governor Jagmohan watched the Hawal incident from the nearby Islamia College,'' he alleged.

Dr Kamal further said it was becoming increasingly clear that the Congress governments, both at the Centre and the state, were responsible for the status-quo in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. ''They did so for their petty political ends and also for making merry at the cost of state and the national exchequers,'' he alleged.

The NC leader said the Congress-led coalition government in the state had only one aim and that was to cling to power by ''hook or by crook'' with only lip service being reserved for the people.

Dr Kamal said the worst example of exploitation of the poor was the Roshini Act as enacted by the coalition government. ''Comparing the Roshini Act with the revolutionary Land to the Tiller Act after 1947 is like lighting a lamp in a broad daylight,'' he added.

UNI