Kashmiris would prefer a Chinese rule than live under Indian oppression, says Farooq Abdullah

The former chief minister of Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) Farooq Abdullah has said that today the Kashmiris do not feel Indians and would rather have China rule them than India.

Abdullah who heads the National Conference party, in an interview to The Wire, dismissed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s claim that the people of Kashmir have accepted the August 2019 changes just because there have been no protests.

"How can you have protests when every street is full of your soldiers standing there? Would you be able to come out of your house in Delhi to protest if every street is leveled with armed gunmen?" the former three-time CM of IoK asked.

He continued that the minute the soldiers on every street and Section 144 were to be lifted, people will come out in their tens of lakhs. When asked how Kashmiris view the Central government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, Abdullah said after what they have done, the people have 'no love for them'.

He further said that the bond and the trust that once bound Kas­hmir to the rest of the country has completely been broken. He added that today when China is advancing on the other side, many would rather have Chinese coming in.

They would rather have Chinese then the Indians, Abdullah said, adding that they would rather not go to Pakistan because everything is lost. "Kashmiris are sick of what they are having to put up with," he added.

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While revealing details about his meeting with the prime minister roughly 72 hours before August 5, Abdullah said Modi did not say a word about Articles 370 and 35A. The PM deliberately went out of his way to give the impression the massive increase in troops was for security purposes, Abdullah said.

And when the constitutional changes were announced, the National Conference and all other political parties stood badly discredited in Kashmiri eyes, Abdullah said. He said now the National Conference and all the other parties that had come together to restore the dignity of Kashmiris.

"Our fight will continue till you return our dignity," he promised.