It was Maharaja Hari Singh who wanted Kashmir as an independent country: Farooq Abdullah

New Delhi: National Conference patron Dr. Farooq Abdullah said his father and former Prime Minister of J&K, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah shouldn’t be blamed for an Instrument of Accession between Maharaja Hari Singh and New Delhi.

National Conference organised the meeting on the occasion of Shaikh Mohammed Abdullah’s 111st birth anniversary. Dr. Farooq Abdullah while addressing his party workers in presence of working president of his party Omar Abdullah said that Dr. Farooq said Maharaja Hari Singh wanted Kashmir an independent country. “It was Maharaja Hari Singh who signed the Instrument of Accession and you blame Sheikh Abdullah for it. He was in jail then,” Farooq said

On Saturday Farooq Abdullah said that being landlocked between India, Pakistan and China, independence is no option for the Valley. Addressing a party meeting in Mandi area of Poonch district, he said: “Independence is no option. On one side we have nuclear powers China and Pakistan and on the other side we have India.

“We have no atom bombs, no army and no jets. How are we going to survive as an independent nation? But, this does not mean that we are slaves of India.” The National Confrence chief said that India “must respect and honour the dignity of the people here otherwise the situation in Kashmir won’t change”.

He urged the Center to won the hearts and minds of people as “nothing else will work even if you build roads of gold”. The senior Abdullah, while taking a dig at the neighbouring Pakistan said that guns were no solution to Kashmir problem. He added that Pakistan was not able to handle its own problems. “What will they do to us”?

Siasat Web Team