Srinagar: Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone became the first Valley leader to demand separation from Jammu, calling it an "amicable divorce" in a bold press statement.
"Maybe the time has come for an amicable divorce," Lone said. "It is not only about developmental matters. Jammu has become the proverbial stick to beat the Kashmiri with. I think the people of Kashmir too can’t take it anymore… I am sure the desire for divorce is much, much higher in Kashmir than it ever was. Need leadership to call a spade a spade"
He slammed Jammu leaders for "selective courage": silent on Delhi's moves like scrapping Darbar, diverting business, but aggressive against Kashmir projects.
The call follows BJP legislator Sham Lal Sharma's push for a separate Jammu state last week, which the party disavowed but reignited old demands.
Kashmir's integration with India can't happen through “intermediaries who continuously malign the region,” Lone added. "If Kashmir is to integrate with the rest of the country, it will have to be done without the thrusted service of touts. We cannot have a region slandering Kashmiris non-stop and petitioning the rest of the country that only one region in J&K is with the country and that the other region is a terrorist region."
He pressed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to honor his pledge for a National Law University (NLU) in Budgam, not Jammu. "This obsession of having everything and anything that Kashmir wants is more of an issue of lunacy. They have an IIM. What is wrong if a Law University comes to Kashmir."