SRINAGAR: Coming down heavily on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), an umbrella of Valley based trade organisations, Saturday asked him to shun “helplessness and weakness” in confronting the NHPC over the return of power projects.
“Omar Abdullah should take a lesson or two from Jayalalithaa (chief minister of Tamil Naidu) and Mamta Banerjee (chief minister of West Bengal) to show some resistance at least on the issue of return of power projects and he could have withdraw logistic support of the state and administration from the corporation,” Siraj Ahmad, chief spokesperson of the KEA said in a written statement.
“Refusal of NHPC to handover the states power projects back to the state shows the arrogance and dictatorial attitude of the government of India and its public sector undertakings towards J&K.”
KEA condemns the congress government both at New Delhi and in the state as coalition partners for rejecting the demand of the chief minister of J&K, he said.
“Congress government has always been extremely damaging to the interests of the Valley and its Muslim majority and NC in joining with the Congress and repeatedly terming its coalition as permanent and lasting friendship amply proves its hunger for power with no respect or care for the sentiments and interests for people of the Valley,” the chief spokesperson said, adding, “Interests of Jammu and Ladakh are very well served by all the local pro-India parties in coalition with any all India level party.”
Ahmad said, Valley never had its say in getting its legitimate demands fulfilled anywhere earlier as well, when the NC was coalition partners with BJP.
PDP equally damaged the interest of the Valley, he said, when it partnered with Congress in government to repeat the story of neglect and apathy.
“Now the NC by giving unflinching support to congress is again damaging Kashmiri interests,” he said.
Criticizing ‘selective formation’ of administrative units, Ahmad said, “it is yet another example of evil designs and manipulative tactics of congress shaped at 10-Janpath (Residence of Congress president, Sonia Gandhi) and then implemented from Gupkar (chief minister’s residence in Srinagar). Our regional parties NC and PDP in particular have such hatred for each other that they have lost all the interests of people of the Valley, whom they supposedly represent and draw their maximum strength from.”
He said KEA will mobilise its all cadres and will devise an action plan against the “injustice” meted to the people of the Kashmir.

Reader correspondent