Srinagar, May 03(KNB): Responding to recent remarks by Farooq Abdullah, BJP J&K State Spokesperson Danish Bhat said the mistrust that did emerge in Jammu and Kashmir over the decades was not organic, but consciously sown by the leadership of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference to retain political control and evade accountability.
Bhat said the political trajectory of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference reflects repeated ideological reversals, recalling how the Plebiscite Front was abandoned after the attainment of power and later dismissed as “Siyasi Awaragardi.” He said such reversals demonstrate a pattern where public sentiment is mobilised for power and discarded thereafter.
Bhat said the narrative of keeping Kashmir at a political distance from Delhi was deliberately cultivated to project one family as the sole intermediary, enabling concentration of authority while shielding decades of corruption, unchecked wealth accumulation, and preferential allocation of public resources to a narrow circle of elites and political associates.
Referring to the 1987 Jammu and Kashmir elections, Bhat said widely acknowledged allegations of electoral manipulation involving the National Conference, with the complicity of the Indian National Congress, severely damaged democratic credibility. He said this erosion of trust created conditions where terrorism was born in Kashmir, with ordinary people paying the price through years of violence and instability.
Bhat said that for years, cycles of unrest also functioned as a political shield, allowing those in power to evade scrutiny while governance deficits deepened. He alleged that public assets, opportunities, and state patronage were disproportionately cornered by a select political class and its affiliates, while the wider population faced unemployment, limited economic mobility, and administrative neglect.
Bhat said instead of introspection, the same leadership continues to invoke Pakistan and recycle the narrative of mistrust to divert attention from its present failures. He said this is being done at a time when the National Conference is facing growing public disillusionment over its inability to deliver on key promises made in its election manifesto.
He pointed out that commitments such as 200 units of free electricity, creation of one lakh jobs, provision of 12 free LPG cylinders, and filling of vacant government posts within 180 days remain unfulfilled. Bhat said these promises were presented as guarantees but have not translated into measurable outcomes on the ground.
Bhat said that while governance delivery remains weak, attempts are being made to revive old political narratives to obscure issues related to performance and accountability. He added that concerns regarding corruption and administrative inefficiency are again surfacing, reinforcing public dissatisfaction.
Contrasting this with recent developments, Bhat said the government led by Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi has steadily earned the trust of the people of Jammu and Kashmir through tangible outcomes. He said direct rail connectivity between Jammu and Srinagar, long seen as an unfulfilled promise for decades, has now been realised, marking a major milestone in regional integration and mobility.
Bhat said that post-2019, Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a structural shift on the ground, with sustained peace, substantial decline in terrorist incidents, record tourism inflows, accelerated execution of infrastructure projects across sectors, absence of street violence, and an end to killings linked to such unrest. He said businesses now operate throughout the year without disruption from hartals, and educational institutions function without prolonged interruptions, reflecting stability in everyday life.
He added that governance has become more direct and outcome-oriented, with central welfare schemes reaching beneficiaries at scale and reducing leakages historically associated with intermediary-driven systems.
Bhat concluded that mistrust does exist today, but it is directed towards the Abdullah family and the National Conference, not the Centre. He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir are more aware, informed, and unwilling to be misled by recycled narratives, and are instead placing their trust in governance that delivers stability, development, and accountability.(KNB)