National Conference (NC) president and former chief minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday dismissed allegations that the Srinagar-Jammu national highway was deliberately kept closed to sabotage Kashmir’s fruit industry. He said the disruption was caused by natural calamities and not by human design.
“There is no deliberate attempt. Did people break the mountains? Did it rain because of people? It was God’s wrath because we have kept a distance from God,” Abdullah told reporters in Anantnag as per news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).
Several political leaders had alleged that fruit-laden trucks were stranded on the highway in a “planned move” to hurt Jammu and Kashmir’s economy. Countering the charge, Abdullah urged people to turn towards faith and compassion.
“People do not pray, nor do they share God’s blessings with the poor. These troubles awaken us to remember our Lord. Only then will He take us out of these difficulties,” he said.
On being asked whether the fruit crisis had become a political issue in Kashmir, Abdullah quipped,“Politics will never stop here. Their homes run on it. They get money from Delhi and survive on those blessings. The day money stops, they will also fall.”(KINS)
