People's Conference President Sajad Gani Lone said on Thursday that his party will reconcile with the youngsters engaged in stone-pelting incidents in Kashmir and work to get the cases against them dropped.
"We cannot afford a system in which 25 to 30 per cent of the population is excluded from society," Lone told reporters during a gathering in north Kashmir.
Lone highlighted the need for Parliament to be the primary forum for dealing with such concerns. He accused his opponent, NC Vice President Omar Abdullah, of being supported by New Delhi.
Lone said his employees were often arrested and incarcerated in previous elections, but that has changed, which enraged Omar.
Lone said that in prior elections, his employees were imprisoned in Kathua after being charged under the Public Safety Act, which governs preventative detention.
"Today, the NC's grievance is that they are not being sent to Allahabad jail," he added.
Lone accused the NC of cheating in the 1987 elections and demanded they stop "issuing certificates." "We don’t need certificates from those who rigged the 1987 polls," he said.
He said that while serving as External Affairs Minister in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's ministry, Abdullah travelled to cities worldwide, claiming that Kashmir was quiet when it was not.
Furthermore, Lone also said responsibility for the NC's 40-year dominance in the region was needed.
He said his party planned to file an FIR, saying, "We will take action against the rigging that occurred in 1987 by registering an FIR."
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