"Congress Has Become Weak": Farooq Abdullah. (FILE)
Jammu: Ahead of the Assembly elections in four states and one union territory, National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah expressed the view that the Congress has become weak.
He further suggested that if the party needs to save the country, it needs to wake up, stand strong and look after the people's problems and added that it will not happen sitting back at home.
Addressing a gathering after paying tributes to freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru on the Martyrs day, the National Conference leader said, "Congress has become weak. I am saying this honestly. Congress will have to wake up and stand strong if they want to save the country. They will have to look after the problems faced by people. This won't happen while sitting at home."
"The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir had formulated the law in 1927 to save our culture. But today people from outside will come and get jobs here. Where will our children go, where will they get jobs? They are making blind laws. Where will the poor people go?" questioned the National Conference leader criticising the abrogation of article 370.
Further cautioning the people against the BJP, Mr Abdullah said, "They can break the state into two but can't break us. They will come and will play the religious card and will ask for a vote in the name of Ram but you have to be careful."
He further said that the country is everybody's irrespective of the case, language, religion etc and alleged that the nation is being divided.
Accusing Pakistan of dividing India, Mr Abdullah said, "Why did Maharaja Hari Singh (Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir during British rule) not go to India on August 15, 1947. He wanted Independent Jammu and Kashmir with good relations with Pakistan and China. But Pakistan was the culprit and wanted to destroy us. At that time Sheikh Abdullah (former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister) said that we (Jammu and Kashmir) will go with India as India is a country where people from every religion live."
Expressing his opinion about the COVID-19 vaccination, Mr Abdullah said he does not know how effective the vaccine is in saving the people from the disease that continues to claim lives globally.