Centre duty-bound to restore statehood to J&K: Farooq Abdullah

Srinagar: National Conference patriarch and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah on Saturday stated that the central government is duty-bound to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, stating that this commitment was made in the country’s parliament itself.
Talking to reporters here Abdullah expressed confidence that statehood would soon be restored to Jammu and Kashmir.
“Statehood will happen. The Indian government will have to give us the state. They are bound by the promise they made in parliament. They will have to uphold that promise,” Abdullah said.
When asked to comment on the disturbing report of an Israeli woman being among two individuals raped near Karnataka’s Hampi, Abdullah remarked, “It looks like people have gone mad. We have the laws, yet things are still out of control. That’s why I told you, people have gone mad. Everyone just identifies themselves by their religion, saying, ‘I am a Muslim,’ ‘I am a Hindu,’ but they are not truly Muslim or Hindu; they have become thugs. This should not happen to our sisters.”
Abdullah also accused the media of maintaining a stoic silence over certain key issues. “The media has gone astray; no truth comes out. Yes, the truth is being suppressed. Everything you have goes to the Intelligence Department. The Intelligence Department tells you whether you can cover it or not,” Abdullah alleged.