Sajad Lone says successive regimes in New Delhi have disempowered and marginalised Kashmiris

In his first statement over reservation, Peoples Conference president Sajad Gani Lone on Tuesday said that successive regimes in New Delhi have been at the forefront in disempowering and marginalising the Kashmiri community, in the name of national interest.

In a post on X, formerly twitter, Lone, said that Kashmiri-speaking population has been pushed into the corner.

“The issue of reservations is a reality. We have to acknowledge the big white elephant in the room. The Kashmiri speaking population has been pushed into a corner. While affirmative action is welcome, it can’t be done completely at the cost of the Kashmiris. There has to be a trade off,” Lone said.

He said the Kashmiri -speaking population has been at the receiving end for the last three decades. “They are the ones highest in terms of PSAs slapped, killed, injured, jailed, denied police verification and now comes the reservation.

He said the current union government and also the past union governments have been at the forefront in disempowering and marginalising the Kashmiri community, in the name of national interest. “They see the Kashmiris as enemies. And want to make them socially and economically subservient to other communities, through a cruel system of reservations,” he said.