Restoration of statehood, special status is people’s demand in IIOJK: Dy CM
BJP leaders’ conduct reflects their lack of concern for Kashmiris’ problems: Choudhary
Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said that restoration of statehood and special status is a public demand and not an issue confined to the National Conference (NC) or the Omar Abdullah-led government.
Reacting to the uproar created by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members in the IIOJK Legislative Assembly on Friday over a resolution moved by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah seeking restoration of full statehood, Choudhary said the BJP should have participated in a debate instead of creating a ruckus.
“This resolution is nothing new,” Choudhary told reporters in Srinagar. He said the Indian government had promised the people of Jammu and Kashmir that statehood would be restored after delimitation and elections.
“But two years have passed and the promise of statehood restoration is yet to be fulfilled,” he said. He said the resolution was moved in the Assembly to remind New Delhi of its promise that delimitation and elections would be followed by restoration of statehood.
“It has been two years, but the BJP has not kept its promise,” Choudhary said.
He said BJP leaders spoke outside the Assembly about the interests, problems and difficulties of the people, but took a different position when the issue of statehood was raised in the House. “The lost identity of J&K, the status of this state, our special status, this is not the demand of the NC or Omar Abdullah’s government. It is the demand of the people of J&K,” he said.
Choudhary said people across IIOJK were demanding restoration of what they consider their “lost identity”. “Whenever you go somewhere and talk to people, people say, ‘we should get our lost identity back,’” he said.
The Deputy CM also said that restoration of special status was important, arguing that otherwise people from outside could take away land and employment opportunities from local youth.
He further said that instead of participating in the debate, BJP members created a ruckus in the House, preventing the government from discussing other pressing issues, including the flood situation in Pir Panjal region.
Choudhary said that the BJP’s conduct in the Assembly reflected a lack of concern for the problems faced by the people of IIOJK.
