My heart says Article 370 will be restored: Omar Abdullah

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Monday said his party has mounted a legal challenge to the Centres decision to abrogate Article 370 and he believed that the special status to Jammu and Kashmir will be restoredReferring to the criticism of his party by other mainstream political parties in the Valley Abdullah said the NC is not keeping people in the dark over the issue of Article 370How are we keeping the people in the dark We are only saying that we will peacefully fight for its restoration We will fight for it under the ambit of the Constitution and legally as well he saidThe former J and K chief minister said such people wanted the party to vitiate the atmosphere so that they get an excuse to target us moreHe said NC has mounted a legal challenge to the Centres decision of August 5 2019 when it ended the special status of J and K under Article 370 of the ConstitutionBut we will not lose our calm we will fight it the right way and God willing and this is what my heart says we will succeed in this fight Abdullah said receiving thunderous applause from the party delegatesAlso Read Farooq Abdullah reelected as National Conference presidentHe was addressing the partys delegate session where his father Farooq Abdullah was reelected unopposed as the NC presidentTelling his partymen that there was no need to worry the NC vice president said We will not kneel or beg but seek the rights of the people of JKWe will not beg them for security or a bungalow nor a vehicle or something else We are only seeking the dignity of JK its prosperity and its identity God willing the day is not far when we will succeed in this fight as well and then present ourselves before the people he addedAbdullah said the NC as a political party has fought many political battles but I am seeing this kind of a battle for the first timeHe said it was one thing if the partys fight was against the BJP or its B or C teams only but the administration is also fighting usThey are after us They give trouble to our colleagues There was a time when the decision to provide security was taken on the threat perception because of militancy Today the decision is taken on the threat perception for the BJP rather than that of the militants The security is provided on seeing which party is a threat to the BJP More the threat to the BJP the lesser the security he saidAbdullah said many of his senior leaders have been attacked a number of times but have lesser security nowBut those who are close to the administration and to the BJP have far more security and vehicles because the BJP has no threat from them he saidHowever he added iquestWe are not the ones to be afraidiquestThose who have God and the people with them those who have firm intentions good intentions and those who do not keep the people in dark they do not need to fear anything God willing we will take this state out of this tribulation he saidAbdullah said if anyone wants to see the power of the NC then they should see this programmeA sarkari jalsa is easy where vehicles microphones stage food are provided by the government Those raising slogans are also sarkari some of them villagelevel workers or something else The government issues orders to its employees to attend the rally he said apparently referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shahs rally in Baramulla in OctoberToday no one here is a government employee no government vehicle has been provided no money has been given he saidReferring to the recent public meeting of the Apni Party led by Altaf Bukhari the former JK chief minister said an event like this can be arranged by spending moneyWe have seen such rallies where crores of rupees were spent but the gates were locked before the speech so that the people do not go away he said without taking any namesTodays meeting is proof of the love you have for the party God is witness that the party has not provided a single penny for any vehicle If the people came here they came because of their love Fortunate is the party which has dedicated workers like you who left everything else and reached here on their own expenses to make this programme a success God should help us to come up to your expectations and take out JK from this morass and make it a prosperous JK the dream of which we all see he saidQuipping over his fathers energy levels Abdullah said he Farooq is elder to me he is my father But sometimes I think I am older than himHe Farooq exerts more than me and I can tell you that todays programme has lent glucose energy of three years to him the NC vice president saidThis 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