PDP Among Others Raise Cry Over Silence On Art 370
Srinagar: The ruling government-led by National Conference, at its first cabinet meeting, has unanimously adopted a resolution, seeking restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
The cabinet met Thursday last under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and according to the reports quoting sources it unanimously adopted a resolution seeking restoration of statehood.
Pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had already committed to restoration of statehood to J&K post the Assembly elections, the resolution, report said, stated that if the Central government wants to make the people happy then it should restore statehood because an elected government has been formed after the Assembly elections.
Said the resolution, report said, will be submitted to the Prime Minister by the Chief Minister when he visits New Delhi in the next couple of days.
While the resolution has been passed by the cabinet, reports said, the minutes of the cabinet meeting are yet to be cleared by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
“Since this is a Union Territory, the cabinet notes cannot go out without the L-G’s clearance,” a source said.
As per sources, the minutes of the cabinet meeting sent to the L-G feature restoration of statehood as agenda number 1 on the list.
Some parties, including the PDP, were critical of the development.
The PDP said that it was a “huge setback” and nothing less than the ratification of the Centre’s 2019 decisions.
Another political party, the People’s Conference, has also questioned the secrecy over the resolution.
“Omar Abdullah’s first resolution on statehood is nothing less than ratification of the August 5, 2019 decision. No resolution on Article 370 and scaling down the demand to mere statehood is a huge setback, especially after seeking votes on the promise of restoring Article 370,” PDP youth president and MLA-elect Pulwama, Waheed Parra, said in a post on X.
People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone wondered why the resolution on statehood passed by the cabinet was “shrouded in mystery and secrecy that only one newspaper publishes it”.
“I hope the CS (chief secretary) of Jammu and Kashmir has notified as it is the protocol,” Lone said on X.
Lone, who is an MLA-elect from Handwara, however, said the resolution should have been passed in the assembly rather than the cabinet.
“I very humbly state that the will of the people of J&K is reflected in the Assembly and not in the cabinet. The cabinet is a majoritarian institution of governance. It does not reflect all shades and opinions as per the will of the people of J&K,” he added.
All across the country, to the best of my knowledge, Assembly is the proper institution for addressing major issues like that of statehood or Article 370, he said.
“When the NC Government passed a resolution on autonomy, they passed it in the Assembly not through a cabinet resolution. What has changed now? Fail to understand why this resolution should not have been reserved for Assembly. Why are we so keen to trivialise everything,” he questioned.
Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid said reports of the resolution passed by government seeking restoration of statehood only and not Article 370 were “very painful” and a “departure” from the principled stand of the ruling National Conference (NC).
“There are reports that a resolution has been passed to seek restoration of the statehood. It is his right to pass anything.
“But, we want to remind Abdullah that you contested the election on Articles 370 and 35A and statehood. So these reports that only a resolution on statehood has been passed is very painful. It means a departure from the principled stand of his party,” Rashid said at a press conference here.
He said the resolution on statehood only makes it clear that Abdullah, who is also the NC vice president, is “playing into the hands of the BJP”.
“The prime minister and (Union) home minister have promised the restoration of statehood a number of times. So why is Omar seeking the same thing? Why is he seeking what the BJP is already ready to give?
“It means he is not ready to talk about (Articles) 370 and 35A. It is just an eyewash and he is deviating from the agenda on which he contested the elections,” Rashid said.
The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief said it seems “something is going on between the NC and the BJP”.