Process of disempowerment refuses to abate in Kashmir: Sajad Lone

People are in pain and there is helplessness all around, says Peoples Conference chairman

Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone on Tuesday said the process of disempowerment started on August 5, 2019 refuses to abate in J&K.

“The situation in J&K is unambiguously extraordinary. People are in pain and there is helplessness all around. The process of disempowerment started on August 5 refuses to abate. Disempowerment has become a continuous process and is achieved incrementally with unfailing frequency,” Mr. Lone said, during a rally in south Kashmir. 

He said rarely a day passes when there is not some sort of law aimed at belittling the Kashmiris, humiliating them and further disempowering them. 

“The luxury to perform to pre–scripted theatres in Kashmir is long gone. It is time the leadership rose from its slumber and understood that every word that the leadership utters has a consequence for the people of Kashmir. The least that these leaders can do is to not facilitate the punishment of Kashmiris through their hollow and high–pitched rhetoric,” he said, in an oblique reference to the top leadership of the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said it was not the time to get terrified due to the tough ordeals of the present time. “It is the moment to stay far–sighted, firm and resolved to get Jammu and Kashmir out of the present cycle of uncertainty. The Peoples Conference firmly believes that leadership in Kashmir means rising up to the occasion and rescuing the Kashmiris instead of throwing them in harm’s way.”

He described the Bollywood movie Kashmir Filesas a “bad fiction”.

“[Movie director] Vivek Aghinotri only sowed seeds of hatred between different communities for their careers. People like Aghintori and Anupam Kher are desperate to go to the Rajya Sabha. They should be sent to the Rajya Sabha, otherwise they will drown this country in hatred,” he said.