Omar announces fresh phase of protests over “unexplained delay” in statehood restoration
Defends invitation to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for Delhi protest
Jammu: Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has announced a fresh phase of protests beginning July 20 against the Indian government over “unexplained delay” in restoring statehood to the territory.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Omar Abdullah addressing a public rally at Hari Singh Park in Jammu said his party waited for two years after the Assembly election in the hope that the Indian government would restore statehood. “For nearly two years, we pursued talks for the restoration of statehood. Now we will adopt a new strategy,” he added.
Questioning the India’s repeated deferral of statehood to an “appropriate time”, the chief minister wondered what that appropriate time constituted and whether it meant the BJP coming to power in Jammu and Kashmir.
“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.
Omar 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 said the BJP is 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. He also referred to the Indian 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 Indian government was punishing the people of Jammu and Kashmir by withholding statehood. “The people of Jammu stood with the Indian government whenever it faced challenges. Border districts bore the brunt of shelling. What crime have the people committed that they continue to be denied statehood?” Omar Abdullah said.
He said the National Conference will continue its campaign through democratic and peaceful means until Jammu and Kashmir regains full statehood.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also defended the National Conference’s decision to invite Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to a proposed protest in Delhi next week, and accused the BJP and sections of the media of deliberately creating a controversy to divert attention from the party’s campaign for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
“We invited more than 50 people. Out of all those names, they picked just one – a religious leader from Kashmir. Their favourite television channels turned that single invitation into a prime-time controversy, claiming that the National Conference invited a Hurriyat leader to Delhi,” he said. He also questioned what he described as contradictory claims by the BJP and sections of the media.
