National Conference’s president and former Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah on Sunday described 09 August 1953 a “black day” while emphasising the need of restoring the “constitutional rights” of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement issued by the J&K National Conference, Farooq Abdullah was quoted having said that in a new chapter of rights restoration; “the restoration of Statehood must be the first step.”
Senior Abdullah, as per the party statement, said the events of 09 August 1953, particularly the unconstitutional arrest and unceremonious ouster of then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, was one of the darkest chapters in the region’s political history.
Abdullah urged the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP]-led federal government to mend the relationship and bridge the gap between Srinagar and New Delhi by ensuring that it is based on mutual trust, democratic principles and constitutional guarantees.
“09 August 1953 marked the beginning of a prolonged political and constitutional assault on Jammu and Kashmir’s distinctive constitutional position. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah chose incarceration over submission when confronted with attempts to undermine Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional safeguards and install a pliant dispensation in Srinagar,” the statement said quoting Farooq Abdullah.
According to the JKNC statement, the illegal and unconstitutional arrest of a sitting Prime Minister inflicted a deep and enduring wound on the collective psyche of Sheikh Abdullah’s followers.
“The political coup of 1953 shattered the faith in the democratic and constitutional assurances extended to Jammu and Kashmir and sowed the seeds of a profound trust deficit between Srinagar and New Delhi. That wound remains unhealed even today. Had this rupture not taken place, Jammu and Kashmir may well have been spared the prolonged political uncertainty, turmoil and immense human suffering that followed,” the statement added.
It reaffirmed that the JKNC remains “steadfast in its commitment to safeguarding Jammu and Kashmir’s political, constitutional and cultural identity.”
