Jammu: National Conference Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said the situation in Kashmir is quite alarming and urged the Governor N. N Vohra to restore back the “normality of 2014 that witnessed near normal activity, communal harmony and peaceful conduct of parliamentary and assembly elections across Jammu and Kashmir.”
“The past over three years’ misrule has brought miseries to people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions, who were denied justice and deprived of development and accountable administration”, Omar Abdullah said while addressing a day-long convention organized by National Conference Women Wing at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan this afternoon.
The former Chief Minister exploded the BJP’s “hypocrisy” and double-speak of the ousted Chief Minister Mehbooba Muft, saying after three years opportunistic bonhomie they were now indulging in mud-slinging publicly. He particularly wondered over the jibe of Mehbooba Mufti at the Prime Minister, seeking just one inch of his 56 inch chest for Kashmir, and asked what stopped her in seeking justice for Jammu and Kashmir during several visits of Narendra Modi to Jammu, Srinagar and Ladakh. Instead, he said, the PDP chief went out of way in heaping praises on Mr Modi. “We witnessed such praises coming in immense measure in the assembly as well”, he added.
Similarly, Omar Abdullah exposed the BJP for crying hoarse over discrimination with Jammu and Ladakh during the past three years, asking why didn’t any of its members or ministers rake up these issues during their partnership with the PDP in the government. For all this time, they including the Deputy Chief Minister preferred to be silent and now they were yelling the slogan of discrimination. “Either there was something wrong in BJP’s three years silence or now they are trying to hoodwink the public opinion by believing them as fools”, he said, adding every BJP minister used to shower praises on Mehbooba Mufti. He said the two coalition partners were flaunting bonding and Pakki Dosti during the years of their power sharing. “But after the rug was pulled from under their seat of power, their tones have changed”, he added.
Lashing out at the PDP for blaming New Delhi of betrayal and conspiracy in dislodging Mehbooba government, Omar said the people of Kashmir were not ready to buy such arguments, which is evident from their total indifference over fall of the government. “Not a single voice was raised or tear shed for dumping the PDP led government”, he said, adding that the same is true about Jammu where people took no cognizance of the fall of BJP government. In fact, he said the people were happy to see non-performing liability in the form of PDP-BJP government gone, he maintained.
Omar Abdullah also took a jibe over BJP chief Amit Shah’s remark about two Kashmir families and reminded him of the similar phraseology used by Narendra Modi during his campaigning in Srinagar in 2014. “Will Amit Shah justify BJP’s alliance with one of the two families after stitching alliance with Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in 2014”, he asked saying sheer opportunism and lust for power brought to the duo, which they themselves called North Pole South Pole, together.
He claimed power is not the destination for National Conference, which believes in serving the people with its presence in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions. He said had the power been any driving force for his party, National Conference with 28 MLAs in 2003 and 15 MLAs in 2014 could have formed the government. He said his party will continue to carry forward this legacy and urged the cadre to further intensify their public outreach programme, identify their problems and seek their redressal.
Referring to the recent rejig in National Conference, Omar said this is aimed at meeting the challenges confronted to the state by rejuvenating the party at every level. He said the party remains always ready for any democratic exercise.
