National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said the people of Jammu and Kashmir should strive for self-reliance instead of seeking economic concessions from the Centre, asserting that demands for self-respect and continued dependence on Delhi “cannot go together”.
“For how long will you remain enslaved? At some point we have to stand on our own feet. When will you stand up? How long will you keep begging from Delhi? You want (restoration of) (Article) 370, yet you beg. These two things cannot go together,” Abdullah told reporters here when asked about the hike in power tariff.
The three-time chief minister said if the people of J-K wanted self-respect, they should first strive "to stand on their own feet".
Asked about increasing incidents of crime against women, Abdullah attributed them to people having "drifted from the word of God".
"Be it a Muslim, a Hindu, or a Sikh. We have distanced ourselves from faith, and this is the result of that. Had we remained close to faith, these things would not have happened. We are Muslims only in name, not in our actions. And the same is the case with everyone else," he said.