Farooq blows hot, blows cold

Syed Ali Safvi

JAMMU, Feb 8: Former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) President, Dr Farooq Abdullah, today blew hot and cold as he indulged in a bit of Pakistan and China bashing as also called for peace and friendship in South Asia, all in the same breath.

Castigating India for adopting dual policy on China-Tibet issue, Abdullah said when China attacked and took away Tibetan's independence, India remained silent.

"When Dalai Lamba is in India, he is barred to speak anything against China, because India does not want to hamper its ties with China," he said while addressing a function at Hotel Asia organised by J&K Forum for Peace and reconciliation. "Appeasement policy will not yield results. You can't make friends for the time being. We only talk about Mahatma Gandhi's principles when it suits us, otherwise not."

Castigating the policies of both India and Pakistan, the NC president said that on one hand there were talks about opening routes and on the other hand people were being killed. Stating that creating war hysteria was a destructive thinking, Farooq said that war was not a solution to any problem.

"Peace is possible with a common man in Pakistan. They know that if they want to move ahead in terms of development, they have to be friends with India," he said, adding that the leaders of Pakistan need to realise that.

Farooq said the day when army in Pakistan would realise that India is not their enemy, change would start taking place. "I wonder if that day would ever come. So many leaders of India and Pakistan who devoted many years to foster peace and reconciliation, have died, but the hatred still persists," he said, adding that amid growing tension, Jammu and Kashmir was paying heavy price.

Stating that only lip service was not enough, hearts should be pure, Farooq said that India and Pakistan must adopt flexible approach to resolve all impending issues.

Terming the Mumbai attack dossier controversy as unfortunate, Farooq urged Pakistan to punish all those involved in the Mumbai terror attack The NC president said that feudal hegemony was still in vogue in Pakistan and Madrasas - meant to impart religious education - were breeding ground of hatred against India.

"People of Pakistan are against terrorism. They know if terrorism continues to grow in the country, it would be wiped off the map," he told a galaxy of intellectuals comprising academics and members of civil society.

Stressing the need to adopt flexible approach, Farooq said that dialogue process and honesty of purpose was a must to douse the flames of hatred in India and Pakistan. "The only problem between India and Pakistan is that they are suspicious of each other," he said. "Friendship is possible only if there is a true give-and-take and not only take, take and take".

Referring to trans-LoC trade between the two parts of divided Kashmir, the former chief minister said that trade was only possible when there are banking facilities in place so that there is no problem of currency exchange.

However, Farooq appreciated the role of Indian government to built international pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terrorist network operating on its soil. He said that whatever Pakistan was doing today was all because of the international pressure India had built on it.