Abid Bashir
Srinagar, Oct 10 : The newly elected Member Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Bijbehara in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, Dr Bashir Ahmed Veeri Thursday said he was confident that Statehood restoration resolution to be passed by the upcoming cabinet won’t meet the same fate as that of Autonomy. He also said political battles are won by pursuing the issues and restoration of statehood will set ground for bringing back Article 370.
In an exclusive interview with the news agency, Dr Veeri said as already stated by the NC vice president Omar Abdullah that the first cabinet meeting of the new government will pass a resolution seeking restoration of Statehood to J&K. “I am damn sure and confident enough that the statehood resolution won’t meet the Autonomy resolution fate. It won’t be rather, it can’t be trashed as there is no scope for that,” the MLA Bijbehara said.
He said that Prime Minister Narendera Modi is on record that after polls Statehood would be restored to J&K. “Union Home Minister has made a statement about the same on the floor of the parliament. The BJP has given a written assurance to the Supreme Court about restoration of Statehood. So with all this, where is the scope for not getting the Statehood back,” Dr Veeri said.
He said restoration of Statehood would be the first step for the big fight which is to get back Article 370. “I believe once we get back Statehood, our morale will go up a bit further and we would be able to raise the bar for the Article 370 restoration. We are also aware that it is not easy but we believe it is not impossible as well,” he said. “NC’s second name is to fight and strive hard for the peoples’ rights. We will get back what we have promised in our manifesto.”
On NC vice president Omar Abdullah’s statement that they can’t afford to have an antagonist relationship with the Government of India, Dr Veeri said this shouldn’t be misconstrued that NC was going to surrender on Article 370. “We are dependent on the Centre for funds and so many things. We can’t afford to stop working relation with the GoI. How can we run J&K affairs without having a working relationship with Centre,” he said. “We will have a working relationship with GoI not BJP. This is where some people try to create confusion.”
About how he managed victory against PDP’s Iltija Mufti in Bijbehara that was considered as a strong bastion of PDP, Dr Veeri said people came out to vote for him. “My father’s great legacy saved me and helped me sail through. My father had defeated the late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed as well. Apart from that, I got tremendous support from youth, the first time voters,” he said.
To a query how interesting the contest was in Bijbehara, Dr Veeri said that it was not Iltija Mufti or Mehbooba Mufti but the entire PDP against whom he fought. “They were one behind the scene,” he said.
On what made him sail through, Dr Veeri said it was Iltija herself who helped him win from Bijbehara.
“Indeed, Iltija made my fight easy. She used abusive language against me and my workers. She provoked people against me which helped me win finally,” the NC leader said.
Replying to a query whether he was sure about his victory, Dr Veeri said that he knew he would win after meeting people and seeing their emotions and support. “Some channels and exit polls created a hype about Iltija winning. I knew and I had told my people that it would be me whether the margin would be 1000 votes or 10,000,” he said.
To a query what would be his priorities for Bijbehara now, he said post delimitation, 18 village parts have been added to the earlier constituency of Bijbehara. “It’s a vast one now. I know the areas where there is a need for proper roads, irrigation facilities, electricity poles, and scores of other issues that need to be taken up on a priority. I have a dream for my constituency. I want to transform it and I will do that for sure,” Dr Veeri said.
On he was going to be part of the weakest ever Assembly, Dr Veeri said: “Who made it weakest? Isn’t the Assembly weakest today because of the intrusion of BJP into the political space of J&K. Who brought BJP here on the pretext that people must vote to stop the saffron party’s entry beyond the Tunnel? Things are clear…Statehood was snatched because of PDP. Article 370 was rolled back because of the PDP. Had there been no BJP in J&K, perhaps we would have been a State with special status.” Replying to a query how he felt while campaigning till late night, Dr Veeri thanked J&K and Anantnag administration for giving him a level playing field. “It was indeed a great moment to campaign till late night. But it wasn’t possible without the administration’s support,” he said
