Karan Singh Pushes for J&K Statehood, Says People Shouldn’t Beg

Srinagar: Veteran Congress leader and former 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' of Jammu and Kashmir Karan Singh on Saturday batted for the restoration of statehood to the Union territory, and said the "people should not have to beg" the Centre for it.

"I think it (restoration of statehood) should happen. The government of India has promised that it will restore the state. See, we were the biggest state, so we should not have to beg for the state. They have to give it. Now, when they want to give it, it depends on them; we cannot force them," Singh said here.

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Interfaith Dialogue organised by the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) and Inter-Faith Harmony Foundation of India, at SKICC here.

The former Union minister appealed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to maintain harmony.

"They should also maintain the relations between (two regions) Jammu and Kashmir, which sometimes become a little fragile, so that this state of ours grows and represents the whole of India and shows a path to the entire country," he said.

Singh said it is very important for all religions to live together.

"It is very important, otherwise discords increase. You have seen that India was divided into three parts. Therefore, we have to keep everyone together, and the purpose of interfaith dialogue is precisely this, that people of different religions should sit together and try to understand each other," he added.