Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has challenged BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to campaign for his party candidates in Kashmir valley rather than challenging the secular credentials of the Sheikh dynasty.
Abdullah addressed a Press conference besides shooting a volley of twitter messages in an attempt to offset impact of Modi’s statement blaming the Abdullah dynasty for communalising Kashmir through the migration of Pandits in 1989.
Modi took a dig at ruling National Conference (NC) leadership after its president Dr Farooq Abdullah who is seeking re-election from Srinagar lS constituency said those who vote for Modi should drown in the sea.
“If somebody has to drown then you should look at your (Abdullah) face in mirror. Put your father’s face in front of mirror and ask this question. Those who have chased Kashmiri Pandits out have no face to preach against communalism,” Modi said in a statement triggering an equal reaction from Omar Abdullah.
“I don’t need certificate from Modi, nor does my family, nor do Kashmiris. He has tried to insult whole nation…He has tried to give out a notion that if anyone is communal in the country it is Kashmiri,” Omar said. “Whether it suits Modi or not but it was Jammu & Kashmir where Mahatma Gandhi saw a ray of hope in 1947 when Hindus and Muslims were killing each other,” he said.
He said Kashmir people are torchbearers of Hindu-Muslim unity. “It is Kashmiri Muslims who give shoulders to Hindu pilgrims during Amarnath Yatra. We don’t need secularism certificate,” the Chief Minister said.
“The day Modi issues secularism certificate to us then I think that may be our last day in the politics. Modi is opposite to secularism”, he said.
Omar claimed he has no guts to come to Kashmir, “Modi has no guts to come to Kashmir. He won’t dare to come to Kashmir to seek votes from Kashmiris,” he said.
Earlier, in a twitter message Abdullah said, “Modi forgets that Sheikh Abdullah chose a secular India rather than Muslim Pakistan & then spent two decades incarcerated but didn’t waver.”
“If there is one thing Kashmir & Kashmiris don’t need from Modi it’s a lecture on secularism. Kashmir gave the world Kashmiryat & tolerance”, he tweeted.
“In 1947 when Hindu-Muslim violence swept the country as far north as Jammu, Kashmir was a beacon of tolerance, an example to the rest,” Abdullah wrote on the micro-blogging site. “lastly if Modi lies so much about J&K & it’s absence of reservation, RTI, education etc. what else is he lying about when he speaksIJ” he wote.
He said that Modi came to Jammu to seek votes but he won’t dare to come to Kashmir. “There is no place for you (Modi) in the hearts of Kashmiris,” he said.
Omar defended his father in Modi’s accusation of engineering Pandit exodus. “Pandits didn’t leave during the reign of Farooq Abdullah. They left during the reign of Governor Jagmohan who was brought here by Mufti Muhammad Sayed, then Home Minister of India in the Cabinet of VP Singh, who became Prime Minister with the support of BJP,” he sought to clarify.