National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah has taken a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for being involved in effecting a demographic change in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, saying that outsiders, being settled in IIOJK, “will take our land and jobs” one day.
Farooq Abdullah said this while responding to media queries on the sidelines of May Day function at in Jammu.
“If outsiders are settled here, where will the locals go. They want to vanish this (Muslim majority) identity and it is very surprising that not a single BJP leader speaks about it. The people from outside will settle here and take our land and jobs slowly,” the NC leader said.
“This has proven our apprehensions about change in demographic character. This way Jammu and Dogras will [also] lose their identity, which was preserved by Maharaja Hari Singh by bringing state subject law in 1927 for land and job protection. BJP [Jammu] leaders’ silence is irksome,” he said.
He also raised question for arranging G20 meetings in Srinagar and Ladakh, and excluding Jammu in this regard.
Throwing a prickly poser at BJP, NC president asked if Jammu was not important and said that BJP leaders had taken Jammu for granted.
“This is unfortunate that in Ladakh and Kashmir, G20 meetings can be organised. But no meeting has been scheduled in Jammu. It was tragic that no Jammu leader, even those raising “Jammu, Jammu or Dogra-Dogra” slogans did not flag this issue,” he added.—KMS
