Farooq Abdullah calls Kashmiri militants 'boys fighting for freedom'

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday kicked up a controversy by saying that the new generation of militants in Kashmir were fighting for ‘freedom’.

“These boys have left (for the path of militancy). Everyone loves life, nobody wants to die. They have made promise to God that you decide the matters of life and death but we will sacrifice our life for the freedom of this nation,” Abdullah said at a function held at National Conference headquarters in Srinagar.

The NC chief said the new generation of Kashmiris was fearless and were ‘not scared of guns’.

“A new generation has taken birth which does not fear guns. It is striving to achieve freedom for this nation,” he said.

The former Union minister said the boys ‘rendering sacrifices’ were not aspiring to be MLAs, MPs or ministers.

“They are giving sacrifices to demand their right: (they say) this is our land and we are its rightful owners but they (India and Pakistan) do not understand this,” he said, asking the party workers not to forget these sacrifices.

Lashing out at both India and Pakistan, Abdullah said the two countries ‘have not done justice’ to Kashmiris.

“We are not anybody's enemy...This fight started in 1931. But we are asking both the countries to do justice to us. You even forgot promises you made in 1948,” he said.