Centre should hold talks with the people of Ladakh: Farooq Abdullah

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said the Centre should hold talks with the people of Ladakh to address their aspirations and warned that if a void is left in the border state someone else will try to fill itA day after Leh witnessed violence over statehood demands Abdullah emphasised that Ladakh is a sensitive areaI want to tell the government that it Ladakh is a border state China is lurking they have occupied land It is time to resolve it quickly The government should hold talks and resolve it Abdullah told reportersAsked about the government blaming climate activist Sonam Wangchuk for the violence the former chief minister said the peace activist was not responsible for itHe Wangchuk has never left the Gandhian way The youth have sidelined him today He is not responsible for it When they BJP lost elections they imposed safety law and put people in jails Now they are using CBI More they use force to suppress the bigger the danger I want to tell the government of India not to use force and instead hold dialogue he addedFour people were killed and at least 80 injured in daylong clashes on Wednesday during a shutdown called by the Leh Apex Body LAB which is backing an agitation demanding statehood for LadakhAsked if there were external forces stirring up trouble Ladakh the former chief minister dismissed the suggestionThere is no external hand It is the voice of the people he addedAbdullah said for the past five years the people of Ladakh were silently protesting for sixth schedule and statehoodTheir leader walked from Leh to Delhi to press for the demands He adopted Gandhian way not agitation But the youth felt that the promises were hollow The result was that they could not bear it any more he addedAbdullah said the Centre should learn a lesson from the Ladakh situation and fulfil its promises with regard to Jammu and KashmirStatehood was promised to Jammu and Kashmir but where is it They should learn a lesson Where are the promises you made with us Where are the jobs People from outside are being imposed he saidAsked if his party supported the violent agitation in Ladakh he said National Conference has never left Gandhian wayWe gave sacrifices but never took to violence However what the youth do in future I cannot say that for sure he saidReplying to a question about BJP blaming Congress for Ladakh violence Abdullah said it was an attempt to deflect the responsibilityBJP has been ruling since 2019 Where did the Congress come from They BJP always try to deflect Congress cannot gather 10 persons he saidAbdullah held the Central government leaders responsible for the situation in LadakhHold talks dont talk about holding talks The leaders in Delhi are responsible for what is happening They kept them busy with talks without anything substantial They youth are feeling let downThe government should move now faster and resolve the issue he saidAbdullah said if a void is left in Ladakh region someone else will try to fill itSomebody will fill the gap It is a very sensitive area They China are craving for Ladakh The Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone to China Why did he go there To improve relations he saidAbdullah said the United States was now blaming India for Russian war on UkraineAmerica is coming after us for buying Russian oil President Trump accused us of supporting war on Ukraine but the truth is we have not supported it he saidReacting to government assertion that no land has been occupied by China in Ladakh Abdullah said the whole world knows how much land they have takenWe cannot even patrol our land How long we will live in a world of lies he chargedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever