Farooq Abdullah visits border dwellers, bats for Indo-Pak talks

Strongly batting for resuming India-Pakistan dialogue, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah today visited the Zero Line along LoC and interacted with border dwellers.

"People of J&K cannot live in an atmosphere of animosity and uncertainty anymore. Wars haven't and won't resolve inherently the political issues between India and Pakistan," he said at Gali-Maidan on Zero Line along Line of Control.

The National Conference leader visited Gali Maidan, the most adversely affected region in the recent mortar shelling, against the advice of the security apparatus.

He hoped that better sense would prevail upon New Delhi and Islamabad that "mutual cooperation and peace is imperative for growth and prosperity in the region."

Farooq interacted with border dwellers at Sabjian, Chandak and Sabjian. He expressed solidarity with the people, saying they had been facing the brunt of border skirmishes valiantly.

"Wars will not only cause human loss, it will also shatter the economy of the region and the costs of confrontation will be borne by generations to come," he said, adding that dialogue has no substitute.

He also hit out at the ruling combine of PDP-BJP.

Public anger has been the highest in South Kashmir, where PDP garnered a significant number of seats based on its lies of being opposed to the BJP, he alleged.

"We cannot afford to be bystanders, being the party of masses and with the legacy of sacrifices that we have made," Farooq said and urged the party cadre to meet this challenge with fortitude and dedication.

The NC chief also cautioned the people against the "divisive forces who have miserably failed to govern".

"They will try to sow seeds of hatred and mistrust among various segments of society as a diversionary tactic and the people must be beware of such attempts," he added.