Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that people in the Union Territory have only been used as a vote bank.
"People in Kashmir have only been used as a vote bank, several promises were made but none fulfilled. Problems were created between Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims. Our enemies will benefit from the hatred spread between Hindus and Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir," Abdullah said at an event in Jammu.
Alleging a play of politics based on religion in the Union Territory, he said, "The country will not survive if we, the leaders, don't separate religion and politics from each other."
"Why don't they pass the Women's Rights Bill? They have 300 members in the Parliament but don't want women to rise and get the same status as men," the NC chief questioned.
Farooq Abdullah also apologised to the Kashmiri Pandit community for not having been able to safeguard them in the 1990s when the Kashmiri Pandit exodus took place. "During NC's regime, we tried our best to ensure the return of the Pandit community to the Valley, but some elements sabotaged the whole process by executing massacres of Pandits," he said.
Farooq Abdullah added, “Kashmiri Pandits have suffered much after migration. The pain of the Pandit community is countless.”
