Omar targets Union Govt over delayed J&K Statehood

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday once again ridiculed the Centre for repeatedly delaying the restoration of full Statehood to the Union Territory, even as he declared that the National Conference would now shift gears to a far more aggressive political campaign. 

Omar, who arrived here in Jammu, was accorded a red carpet welcome inside the Maharaja Hari Singh Park, located on the banks of the river Tawi.

The choice of the venue, decorated with flags of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, raised many eyebrows.

In 2012, when the first statue of Maharaja Hari Singh was unveiled in Jammu, Omar Abdullah and members of his council of ministers had skipped the event. Later, PDP Chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti inaugurated the Maharaja Hari Singh Park along with BJP’s deputy CM Prof Nirmal Singh on March 17, 2018.

Omar attended the public rally in Maharaja Hari Singh Park ahead of July 13, which was observed as Martyrs’ Day in the Kashmir valley before the Abrogation of Article 370.

For the first time, the two-State holidays on July 13 and December 5 were deleted from the list of public holidays by the LG administration on December 28, 2019, after the Abrogation of Articles 2019 and 35-A. So far, the Omar Abdullah-led Government has failed to fulfil its poll promise of restoring public holidays.

On Sunday, when Omar announced a fresh round of protests beginning July 20 in New Delhi, it was a deliberate attempt to convey to the Centre that people across both the regions in the Union Territory were seeking early restoration of Statehood.

Addressing a public rally centred on the war cry “Delhi Chalo”, Abdullah said his party waited for two years after the Assembly election in the hope that the Centre would restore statehood.

“We have given the Central Government enough time. For nearly two years, we pursued talks for the restoration of Statehood. Now we will adopt a new strategy,” Abdullah said.

“The BJP leaders are making statements against NC’s Jantar Mantar protest and saying that we will not get the statehood by doing this protest...If not in Delhi, then where?” he asked.

“If decisions concerning a part of our own country cannot be taken in our own national Capital, where are they supposed to be taken?” he added.

Abdullah said the BJP constantly undermined its efforts for Statehood through protests in J&K, in the Assembly, and is now doing the same with its protest in the national Capital.

“So what do they expect us to do? Should we go to America and protest outside the White House to seek Jammu and Kashmir’s Statehood? We are only asking for a promise made in our own country to be honoured in our own country’s capital,” he said.

The National Conference leader accused the BJP of using Statehood as a bait to wield as a political instrument rather than fulfilling a constitutional commitment.

“If it is Modi’s promise made on the soil of Katra, then it should be honoured,” he said, referring to the prime minister’s promise to restore Statehood.

Abdullah also referred to the Supreme Court calling for Statehood restoration “as soon as possible” after the completion of the electoral process.

“Those are not my words; they are the words of the Supreme Court,” he said.

He alleged that the Centre was punishing the people of Jammu and Kashmir by withholding statehood.

“The people of Jammu stood with the nation whenever the country faced challenges. Border districts bore the brunt of shelling, and Jammu opened its doors to those displaced by militancy. What crime have the people committed that they continue to be denied statehood?” Abdullah said.

Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, Abdullah said that during the post-Partition violence, the father of the nation had termed Jammu and Kashmir a symbol of communal harmony.

He also wondered whether the region was now being penalised for upholding the ideals of Hindu-Muslim-Sikh unity.

Abdullah said the National Conference will continue its campaign through democratic and peaceful means until Jammu and Kashmir regains full Statehood.

“We will continue knocking on the doors of our own nation’s Capital. We will continue reminding the country’s leadership of the promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We only ask that those promises be honoured,” he said.