Engineer Rashid appeals to political parties not to form govt until J&K statehood restored

Srinagar: Lok Sabha member and president of Awami Itihad Party (AIP) Engineer Rashid on Monday appealed to all regional mainstream political parties of Jammu and Kashmir not to stake claim to government formation unless statehood is restored.

Addressing a media conference in Srinagar, Engineer Rashid said, “Irrespective of which political party or a group of political parties get a majority after tomorrow’s counting of votes, I would appeal to all mainstream political parties including the National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Conference (PC) and J&K Apni Party to rise above party politics and unite in the larger interest of the people who voted for them."

“Omar Abdullah has himself said that the elected government in the UT would have less powers than a municipal corporation. I extend my party’s full support to them provided they unite and decide not to form the government in J&K unless statehood is restored. When elected representatives from both Jammu and the Valley put pressure on Delhi to restore our statehood, they would have no other choice. Modiji has already changed the goalpost and it is now our turn to put up a united front to ensure that statehood is restored to J&K," said Rashid.

He said the regional political parties could do nothing after the formation of the PAGD and now was the time to ensure that the people who elected them were not betrayed.

The MP said the Congress has its compulsions as a pan-India party. “They took votes from here, but remained silent on Article 370,” he said.

He also said he had come back from Delhi after remaining there for two days. “I had the chance to go to Kashmir House in Delhi for the first time. I was shocked to find out that after the bifurcation of the state into two UTs, the main building of Kashmir House has been given to Ladakh UT. The people of Ladakh are our brothers, but the population of J&K is around two crore while that of Ladakh is two to three lakh. How can this decision be justified to give the main building of Kashmir House to Ladakh,” he said.

Engineer Rashid appealed to the Central government to take the strictest possible action against Yati Narsinghananad Saraswati for making blasphemous comments.

“If the youth of J&K can be booked under the UAPA for making a Facebook comment when cannot Yati be booked under the stringent laws meant for such people,” he said.

He also opposed the nomination powers of the Lt Governor to nominate five members with voting rights in the J&K legislative Assembly. “Such nominations always undermine the stature of elected houses in the country,” he said.