Begum Khalida Shah hits back at Muzafar Baig

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Awami National Conference has sharply reacted to the statement of Peoples Democratic Party leader, Muzaffar Husain Baig, where he had accused late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah of trading his plebiscite cause for power.
“It is really unfortunate that a person who is totally unaware of the factors responsible for creation of the Plebiscite Front has the cheek to talk of plebiscite,” party president, Begum Khalida Shah, said in a statement Monday, adding she had been an active soldier and a part of the Plebiscite Front throughout its existence.
Describing the PDP leader as a political novice, she advised Baig to study the history of the movement and introspect ‘if his own forerunners had not committed political blunders when Sher-i-Kashmir Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah had been implicated in a fabricated conspiracy case’.
“We alone know the extent of tribulations and atrocities that were inflicted upon us and how many acid tests we went through during the days of Plebiscite Front and other movements,” Begum Khalida said, adding that when anybody made a willful attempt to distort historical circumstances and facts to create misgivings in the minds of gullible masses, one felt compelled to set the records straight.
“Before hurling the charge on Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah of a sell-out of plebiscite against power, Muzaffar Beig would better ask himself why the late leader had spent the precious years of his life behind bars and why he had spurned the offer of power in 1954 when the then prime minister of India had, in a personal communication, apologized to him for the events of 1953,” she said.
Indeed, Begum Khalida said, Beig seems to be ignorant of the conditions that prevailed when the oppressed and suppressed people of Kashmir could not open their mouth against any excesses. It was because of the struggle and sacrifices of the late leader that Beig reached the pinnacle of his legal career.
“Now, when the late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah is not around, leveling baseless allegations against him can be termed only as political dishonesty,” she said, adding it was because of Sheikh Sahib’s contribution that people were educated and enjoyed a dignified life. “Is this the way Beig has chosen to show his indebtedness to the late leader,” she asked.
Begum Khalida said some political parties within the state and their upstart leaders were spreading canards about Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah after his death although he had the good of the entire state at his heart.