Srinagar, Mar 28:
People’s Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone Thursday said his party will seek a judicial commission, which has punitive powers, to probe and punish the perpetrators of “rigging” in 1987 assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. He also hit out at the National Conference leadership, saying Abdullahs were the “real architects” of erosion of special status to Jammu and Kashmir and they can no longer befool people. “The blatant rigging of 1987 resulted in eruption of militancy and the subsequent bloodshed in Kashmir. For things to change and peace to return to valley, the culprits of 1987 must be held accountable for murdering democracy in the Valley,” Lone said at a party convention at Tangdhar in Kupwara district. He said accountability must start from 1975 Accord when National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah ratified previous erosion of the special status in “lieu of power”. “Why is Omar Abdullah pained when anyone gets killed in rest of the country while he preferred to remain mum when more than 120 young Kashmiris were killed under his watch as chief minister in 2010?” Lone asked. The People’s Conference chairman also asked why Omar Abdullah was not vocal about the human rights violations that took place between 1996 and 2002 when his father, Farooq Abdullah, was the chief minister. “If he is genuinely concerned about the state of human rights across the world, he should question himself on NC’s role in 1975, 1987 rigging, unleashing Ikhwan, and killings between 2008-2014. “It was all done under the patronage of Abdullahs and they should be held accountable for these heinous crimes,” he added.
