Train to Kashmir likely to face a few months delay: Farooq Abdullah

Jammu: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said that the Katra-Sangaldan train service is likely to be delayed by a few months and will begin operations in April with the onset of the tourism season.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a party function here, Abdullah said he was preparing to travel to Srinagar onboard the train on January 25.

"I heard that the train (to Kashmir) will face a two-month delay due to some incomplete works. Those works are being attended to and they will start the train in April with the onset of the tourism season,” the former chief minister said.

In December last year, the Railway Ministry announced the completion of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project, the work that was started in 1997 to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country.

The railway authorities conducted several trial runs on various sections including the Katra-Srinagar track besides the statutory inspection by Commissioner of Railway Safety, Northern Circle, Dinesh Chand Deshwal in the past one month, brightening the chances of early operationalization of the service.

Asked about the criticism of the government functioning allegedly by a Congress leader, Abdullah said the government knows what to do.

“Government will function as it wants. Nobody can dictate terms to the government,” he said.

Responding to the PDP remark that the NC government has changed the goal post from Article 370 to statehood, Abdullah said the rival party needs to go for self-introspection before making any allegations against his party.

"Tell them (PDP), they are the ones who are responsible for the revocation of Article 370. We have told Mufti Mohammad Sayeed (former chief minister and PDP founder) not to join the BJP for government formation. He went ahead, despite repeated requests by us, Congress and other parties,” he said.

Asked when the statehood was restored to Jammu and Kashmir, he quipped "When it is acceptable to the Almighty.” On return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri pandits who completed 35 years in exile on January 19, Abdullah said the BJP ruled J&K over the past 10 years and the question should have been posed to them how many migrant families they have rehabilitated during this period.

He said the BJP has also promised 50,000 jobs to the unemployed youth but nobody will ask them how many jobs they provided in the past 10 years but will ask the National Conference which only came to power three months ago and has five years to fulfil all its promises including providing jobs to the youth.

Abdullah questioned the silence of the media over the alleged misuse of the central government by the BJP in the elections.

“I want to advise the media to remove hatred from their reporting and try to work to spread love. If we continue to spread hatred, we cannot save the country,” he said, urging the media in the country to go for self-introspection before asking questions to the opposition party leaders.

Asked about the involvement of a Bangladeshi national in the recent attack on Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan in Mumbai, Abdullah said he is against such things and wished him a speedy recovery.

“Maharashtra is a rich state where everybody wants to go to earn a living. How many people from our state are earning their livelihood in Mumbai? It is the financial capital of India,” he said, adding “If somebody has attacked him, you cannot blame an entire nation for one man’s action.”

“You remember what had happened in Canada and America and they put the blame on India. How can you blame a nation for one person's action…(former Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi visioned SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) like the European Union with the aim that all countries in the neighbourhood work together for the betterment of their nations. We need a revival of this,” he said.