National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Sunday alleged that the central government knew about the Pulwama attack, but allowed it to happen to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi win the elections, reported IANS.
“It is their [Centre’s] mistake,” Abdullah said. “They knew that the attack was going to happen. Where did the explosives come from? PM Modi had to win the elections, so he did this ‘karnama’ [misadventure],” he said. Abdullah made the remark while leading a sit-in protest against the ban on civilian traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway for two days in a week till May 31.
“I’m telling him even today that they did this [attack] themselves. And now we people are being punished,” The Greater Kashmir quoted Abdullah as saying.
Abdullah termed the ban on civilian traffic “dictatorial”. “Are we being ruled as a colony or are we living in an independent nation?” he asked, while demanding that the ban be withdrawn immediately.
Abdullah said the government could use trains to move forces in Kashmir or have the convoys travel at night to reduce inconvenience to civilians. “But this [the ban] is harassment and dictatorship,” he said. “The government should withdraw this order before there is more bloodshed in Kashmir,” he said.
This is the first time the government has decided to stop civilian traffic on the national highway. The move comes over a month after 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in a suicide attack in Pulwama district on February 14.
At an election rally in Srinagar on Sunday, Abdullah demanded that a commission be set up under the United Nations to investigate India’s claim of shooting down Pakistan’s F-16 during a dogfight between the two countries following the Pulwama attack, reported Rising Kashmir.
“He [Prime Minister Narendra Modi] sent three jets at 3 am for three seconds, but only managed to bomb trees,” Abdullah said. “After Balakot, they claim of shooting down F-16, but we didn’t see it. Yes, but we saw our own jets coming crashing down along with the pilot and it was shown on television.”
Abdullah alleged that the people who are running the government in Delhi were the ones who were the killers of Mahatma Gandhi, ANI reported. “It was the RSS people who killed him [Gandhi],” Abdullah said. “It was also banned by Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, because they wanted to create a Hindu Rashtra, which was not accepted by leaders of that time. People who are running the government in Delhi are the ones who are killers of Mahatma Gandhi.”
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