Jammu Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party has strongly reacted to the remarks made by puppet Chief Minister of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah. A DFP spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar said Omar Abdullah, the grandson of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and son of Farooq Abdullah, should confront the historical record rather than selectively interpreting history to suit political interests.

He said Kashmir continues to simmer because the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been denied their internationally recognised right to self-determination for decades. “Omar Abdullah’s assertion that Jammu and Kashmir’s decision in 1947 to remain with India was the right choice neither represents the collective aspirations of the Kashmiri people nor can it negate the United Nations resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

He said the puppet Chief Minister should also remember that members of his own family and political establishment have, at different times, questioned aspects of the political decisions surrounding 1947 and their subsequent consequences. “Therefore, presenting the 1947 decision today as final and beyond question merely for political convenience amounts to ignoring the historical contradictions surrounding his family’s political legacy,” he said.

He said the massacres and forced displacement of Muslims in Jammu in 1947 constitute one of the darkest chapters in the history of Jammu and Kashmir and cannot be erased from public memory. “The enormous loss of life, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, imprisonment of political leaders and suppression of fundamental rights in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir over the subsequent decades further demonstrate that constitutional claims alone cannot change the realities on the ground,” he added.

The DFP spokesman asked the puppet Chief Minister that if he is concerned about the situation of people on the other side of the Line of Control, why does he not speak with equal concern about Kashmiri political leaders and activists imprisoned in Indian jails. He emphasised that the people of Jammu and Kashmir do not belong to any particular family, political party or government; they are entitled to determine their own political future and exercise their fundamental right to self-determination.

“Neither the National Conference nor any other political party has the right to substitute its own political interpretation for the collective will of the Kashmiri people,” he said. He reaffirmed that the Democratic Freedom Party supports a peaceful and just settlement of the Kashmir dispute through political and diplomatic means, meaningful dialogue and the effective participation of the genuine representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)