Farooq Abdullah: Changing army officers will not solve the problem in Poonch
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said removal of Army officers will not solve the issue of civilian deaths in Poonch and demanded a probe to find out why innocent people were “tortured” to death. to be done.
Three civilians picked up by the Army for questioning following the deadly terrorist attack on two Army vehicles in Poonch last Thursday were found dead.
“Peaceful civilians, eight of them, were taken and three were beaten so brutally and chilli powder was sprinkled on their wounds. Three of them could not bear the torture and died. Five others are in hospital. The brother of one of the victims is in the BSF and has been serving for the last 24 years…Now he says he has got his brother’s death in return for his services to the country,” Abdullah told reporters here.
He said, “The Army Chief has also taken the Northern Commander from here to the academy in Dehradun but this will not solve the problem. It should be investigated why this happened?” He asked, “in which India are we living” if innocent people are killed who have nothing to do with terrorism. “Is this Mahatma Gandhi’s India where we can live in peace? “Hatred has spread so much that Hindus and Muslims think that they are enemies of each other.” The former Chief Minister rejected BJP’s claims of ending terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Four years ago, the Home Minister had given a speech in Chennai where he had said that Article 370 was responsible for terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Now terrorism will end in Jammu and Kashmir and development is being done.”
“Four years later, he gave a speech in Parliament and said he had not said anything like that. How much they are lying. Terrorism has not ended, it is increasing. Trained (terrorist) people are coming and they are not caught. Innocent people are being targeted,” he said.
Responding to a question on whether India should hold talks with Pakistan, Abdullah referred to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s famous statement that “we can change friends but cannot change neighbours”.
“If we live in friendship with neighbours, we will both prosper but if we live in enmity, we cannot progress rapidly. Modiji has also said that war is no longer an option and issues have to be resolved through dialogue. Where is that conversation? He further said, “Leave Imran Khan. Now Nawaz Sharif is going to become the PM of Pakistan and he is saying in a loud voice that he is ready for talks. Why aren’t we talking? If we don’t find a solution to this.” Through negotiations, I am sad to say that we will have to face the same situation as the Palestinians in Gaza, who are being bombed every day. Anything can happen. May Allah have mercy on us!” He added.
