Raja bilal cni
“This is not Delhi speaking through me. This is my bleeding heart.”
Turning his fire towards Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Lone asked searingly, “Do you even understand unemployment? Have you ever seen it inside your own home? You got everything served on a platter. Our CM Sahib got everything on a platter.” He went on, “Swear by the Quran and tell me, if Mr. Omar were to sit today for the SSRB or PSC exams, would he qualify for a job?” He added, “If the child of a looter already has everything, why do you turn hostile towards the innocent child? They also have dreams, dreams of building homes, raising children, and caring for their parents.”
Lone fiercely dismantled the rhetoric of sacrifice repeatedly invoked by mainstream parties to justify the continued union with Jammu. “You speak of sacrifice, of bloodshed. There is no sacrifice in this arrangement,” he said, before posing a chilling question, “Whose massacre took place in Jammu? Tell me. Just tell me.”
He pointed out that Kashmiri Muslims remain on the frontlines in the fight against militancy, with nearly 90 percent of police martyrs being Kashmiri Muslims, yet solidarity from Jammu or support from the Centre is conspicuously absent at such moments. He further observed that while Kashmiri youths are beaten across India, the relentless campaign of hatred emanating from Jammu, with calls to ‘kill them, crush them, finish them,’ cannot be divorced from the atmosphere of hostility Kashmiris face nationwide.
He also criticised Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for spending 22 of the last 30 days outside Kashmir, questioning his sense of responsibility and remarking, “You can leave anytime. You do not pay the price. The people do.”
Addressing the economic imbalance, Lone argued that Jammu’s economy survives on Kashmir and Kashmiri labour, yet continues to display arrogance, with nearly every major development project being funnelled towards Jammu at Kashmir’s expense.
At the same time, he clarified that separation would not translate into animosity. “Are the people of Maharashtra not our brothers? Are those from Delhi or Gujarat not our brothers? Thousands come here, and they are welcome. In the same spirit, the people of Jammu will remain our brothers tomorrow as well. God willing, even after separation, brotherhood will remain.”
In one of his most provocative assertions, Lone declared, “By God, a solution for Kashmir will emerge. You and Omar Sahib should go and sit in Jammu. Ask Delhi to separate Jammu from Kashmir and stay there. Half the solution lies there. If Kashmir truly matters to you, take the PDP President with you as well. I will write this in blood. After that, no Kashmiri child will be killed by a bullet.”
Anticipating backlash, Lone pre-empted the familiar accusations. “I know what will follow for the next five or six days. They will say BJP is behind this, Delhi is behind this. Tomorrow it will become the Centre’s plot, the RSS plot, the IB plot. For the last 50 or 60 years, everything inconvenient has been branded a plot. Where is your logic?” he asked.
He urged people to abandon recycled narratives and think independently, noting that even ordinary Kashmiris are, for the first time, beginning to calculate how much they have lost by remaining bound to Jammu.
His concluding remarks were both anguished and hopeful. “This is a rare and golden moment for Kashmiris. Do not be misled by hollow slogans of ‘sacrifice.’ You gave no sacrifice. The sacrifice was borne by the poor. It is the poor man’s child who lies in the grave. The wealthy have no graves to mourn, forgive me for saying so. My home sacrificed. We sacrificed. What did you sacrifice? You feast every day.”
He added, “I pray to God that separation becomes possible. It would be a true liberation. But beware, the big crocodiles will invent new stories tomorrow. Still, despite everything, we hope this comes to pass.” (cni)