Article 370: Farooq Abdullah claims he is under house-arrest, says fight for right will continue

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday alleged Union Home Minister Amit Shah of lying in Parliament, asserting that he is under house arrest and not staying inside his home at his will.

Speaking on the abrogation of Article 370, National Conference (NC) president he accused the Centre of stabbing the people of the state. He added that the people will go to the court against the move by the Centre. He also called the move undemocratic.

"India fought for its independence for a hundred years. Seventy years of fight for right is not going to change. We will continue to fight," said Abdullah.

Article 370 was on Monday scrapped by the government. The announcement was made in Parliament by Shah amid uproar by opposition parties. The decision is in line with what the BJP had promised in its manifesto before the Lok Sabha election 2019. While scrapping Article 370 was done by presidential order, there is also a move to reorganise the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two UTs with two Lieutenant Governors. While Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature, Ladakh will be a UT without a legislature.

Speaking from outside his residence in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said, "As soon as the gate will open our people will be out, we will fight, we'll go to the court. We're not gun-runners, grenade-throwers, stone-throwers, we believe in peaceful resolutions. They want to murder us. My son (Omar Abdullah) is in jail."

"You can see I forced myself outside to talk to you. The home ministry is lying in Parliament that I'm not under house arrest. Why will I sit in my house when my state is getting burned, when my people are being executed in jails and punished. This is not the India I believe in. India is a democratic India, a secular India. This is totally undemocratic," also said Abdullah. 

"There is a case in the Supreme Court, why can't they wait? They have stabbed the people of the state. They want to murder us, fire here (pointing his chest)," added the NC president.

"How could I go when my doors are locked Parliament," replied Abdullah when asked why he didn't attend Parliament.

Amit Shah in a statement clarified, "I have made it clear thrice, Farooq Abdullah is at his home, he is not under house arrest, he is not under detention. He is in good health. Unko nahi ana hai toh gun kanpatti par rakh kar bahar nahi la sakte hum. (If he doesn't want to come, can't force him on gunpoint to be present in Parliament.)"