Srinagar: Asserting that the elected government in Jammu and Kashmir should be empowered in accordance with the aspirations of the people, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said that the dispensation led by him has not compromised on any issue. He urged the Centre to honour the promise of restoring J&K’s statehood made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Parliament.
Addressing a news conference in Chennai, Omar, as per KNO said, his regime has not compromised on anything. “Since the day my government has been elected, we have stood steadfast in our belief that statehood must be restored. We were the ones who passed a resolution in the assembly asking for the special status of Jammu and Kashmir to be restored. We are the last people who will compromise on a mandate that has been given to us by the people,” he said.
He further stated that “the law & order and policing, these are not part of the elected government’s responsibilities and I think it is unfortunate. Jammu and Kashmir has been promised full statehood by the Prime Minister, by the Home Minister, by representatives of the Government of India when this matter was argued before the Supreme Court. So there is no reason why this promise shouldn’t be kept. Again, this is something that should have already happened. I fail to understand why it hasn’t been done, but we continue to push and believe that this promise must be kept and the elected government must be empowered the way the people want it to be.”
Replying to a query on measures taken post Operation Sindoor for the safety of people, Chief Minister Omar said, “We did a comprehensive security audit of all our tourist destinations. Some of them are even at this moment not open for tourism activity but most of the places have reopened and we are taking all the precautions that are necessary.”
About the detention of a legislator from Doda, Mehraj Malik under Public Safety Act (PSA), the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said, “Whatever the complaints might have been there about the conduct of the MLA, the law that has been used to detain him is excessive use of force against an elected representative”.
“He should never have been arrested under this law. The sooner he is released, by all means, if you have a complaint about his conduct, take it up with the Speaker of the Assembly. There are other ways to do it. But detaining him under Public Safety Act, where he is not eligible for bail for at least six months is definitely an excessive use of force,” he said.
He said that his government has been trying to improve the connections between the South Indian states and Jammu & Kashmir. “We don’t get enough visitors from Chennai and from the rest of Tamil Nadu to Jammu and Kashmir. In fact, one of the challenges that my government has taken upon itself is to try and improve the links and the connections between the South Indian states and Jammu & Kashmir. We hope that in the months and years ahead, we will see more film shootings from this part of the country and more people coming to Jammu and Kashmir for their holidays,” he added.
Omar further stated that his relation with the Chief Minister MK Stalin is very good. “We have always been very grateful to the DMK for the support that they have extended to Jammu and Kashmir for the issues that matter to us. In fact, I was looking forward to meeting the Honourable Chief Minister, but I understand he’s not going to be in town. So that meeting this time was not possible. Hopefully, we will meet at a future visit,” he said.
About Bihar row, he said that obviously there are concerns with regard to this special dispensation that was created for Bihar. “I don’t have any direct connection with Bihar, but obviously one hears about the mood of the people and it has left people in Bihar very dissatisfied with the conduct of the Election Commission. I am not sure the Election Commission wants to do something in the rest of the country that will add to the questions over its credibility. We have always taken pride in the independence and in the impartiality of our election commission. I think our Election Commission needs to hold true to those ideals,” he added. (KNO)
No issue with multilateral tournaments: CM Omar on Indo-Pak clash
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said the upcoming India–Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup should be viewed as part of a multilateral tournament and not as a bilateral contest, stressing that sports must not repeatedly become a casualty of politics.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai, Omar Abdullah, as per news agency KNC, remarked, “Our problem has always been with bilateral matches, never with multilateral tournaments.”
“This is part of a larger competition, not a bilateral series between India and Pakistan. If this is a beginning and things move in a positive direction, nothing like it.”
He added, “Sport often becomes the victim of politics, especially cricket in the subcontinent. But you cannot ignore the realities. My part of the country has suffered for over three decades, and what happened this year in Pahalgam are real concerns we live with. These cannot be wished away.”
