‘Delhi protest beginning, not end of campaign; rivals skipped, didn’t want to annoy BJP’
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said the restoration of statehood remains the essential foundation for regaining the region’s constitutional rights, while launching a scathing attack on political opponents for skipping the NC’s Delhi protest and refuting allegations that he had sought to internationalise the Kashmir issue.
Talking to reporters here a day after the National Conference (NC) staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital demanding restoration of statehood, the chief minister hit out at opposition parties for abstaining from the agitation and instead choosing to criticise the initiative on social media.
“As is said, Girte hain shahsawar hi maidan-e-jung mein, woh tifl kya gire jo ghutno ke bal chale (only experienced riders fall on the battlefield; how will a child fall who crawls on his knees),” Abdullah said in his opening remark while hitting out at opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir.
Without naming the PDP, he drew historical parallels, alleging that political manoeuvres in the past have been engineered to dilute the state assembly’s mandates while the emergence of political entities in the year 2000 was aimed at weakening internal autonomy efforts.
“The party that emerged in 2000 is still trying to weaken the voices of the people here… And today we are witnessing such a situation again,” said Abdullah, clarifying that he was addressing the media in his capacity as the vice president of the NC.
Lashing out at the regional rivals for not joining the statehood protest, Abdullah said they “did not want to annoy the BJP and the Central government”.
“They sat in their homes and only tweeted. It was raining outside, and they sat under their quilts and ran their campaign through social media.
“The people of J&K have now understood who the people who took to the roads, who are ready to fight and struggle for the rights of the people, for the restoration of their dignity and for the betterment of J&K, and who are those people who operate through their mobile phones,” he said.
The chief minister said the Delhi protest was an open invitation to all political parties in Jammu and Kashmir because restoration of statehood was a common cause for the entire region rather than a single party.
Abdullah was in the national capital on Monday to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. However, police stopped him and other party leaders from moving towards the protest venue due to the heavy security deployment for the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) march.
Expressing disappointment over the opposition’s criticism, he said instead of uniting for the collective rights of the people, his rivals had resorted to ridiculing and questioning the NC’s stance on Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
“I am certainly saddened by the fact that the people who call themselves sympathisers of the people of Jammu and Kashmir forget their sympathy at such moments. And what do they say? You go and first talk about Article 370,” he said.
Reacting to political opponents demanding the immediate reinstatement of Article 370 before statehood, Abdullah questioned the practical validity of such an argument without a fully empowered state.
“I ask them, the educated people among them, tell me, what is the meaning of Article 370 without the state? What is the meaning of Article 371 without the state?” he said, adding that the NC does not believe in fooling the people by showing them false dreams about special status from the very government that had revoked it.
He said special status defines how powers are shared between the Centre and the state government.
“Whatever special status Jammu and Kashmir would have, be it under Article 370 or anything else, the point is how to share the powers between the Centre and J&K. There is no sharing of powers between the Centre and a UT because a UT does not have any powers.
“All powers of a UT lie either with the Centre or the Lok Bhavan. All Cabinet decisions go to Lok Bhavan first,” he said and reasoned that statehood was the foundation stone for restoring special status.
Abdullah said the party has not forgotten the issue of special status and reminded that his government passed the resolution on special status on the first day of the assembly session.
“It (resolution) is still alive. This resolution can be discussed only after we have statehood,” he said.
He also sought to reassure the people of Jammu and Kashmir that the party remained committed to promises it had made.
“I assure my people we stand by our promises and will remain steadfast. A new strategy and programme will soon be decided by the party leadership,” the chief minister said.
Rejecting allegations that he had backtracked on recent remarks referring to US President Donald Trump, Abdullah said his comments were a “satirical political rebuttal” to the Leader of the Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and by no means an appeal for an international intervention or a shift in policy.
“I have not retracted anything. I don’t mind an agenda coming from individual journalists. My problem is when the newspaper writes a factually incorrect editorial, I have a right as an individual to set the facts straight,” he said.
He said his reference to Trump came after the opposition leader argued that statehood could not be secured by protesting at Jantar Mantar.
“It was a satirical political rebuttal to an opposition remark, not a policy position and certainly not an appeal for external intervention,” Abdullah said.
Reiterating that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood was strictly an internal matter, Abdullah firmly rejected any notion that he had sought foreign involvement in the region’s affairs.
“The facts were quite simple. I have never internationalised Kashmir, nor did I ask Mr Trump to get us statehood,” he said, adding that his party’s struggle for the restoration of statehood continues to be anchored within the constitutional framework of the country.
On the Delhi agitation where NC leaders, including 90-year-old party chief Farooq Abdullah, marched despite police barricades and logistical hurdles, the chief minister said the sit-in was only the first phase of a sustained political campaign.
“This is the beginning, this is not the end,” the chief minister affirmed, announcing that the party, under the leadership of Farooq Abdullah, will chart out its next organisational and public programmes across both Jammu and Kashmir divisions as well as in the national capital.
PTI