Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today promised to fulfill the manifesto that his party has committed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir during his five-year tenure.
“I would like to say something about our manifesto. Why did we come to the manifesto? We prepared the manifesto with lot of thought. It is our promise to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. When we presented this manifesto to the people, we said, we are asking for a five-year term. During this five-year term, we will do all these things and present ourselves to you. Today, I would like to tell the people of Jammu and Kashmir that whatever we have said in our manifesto, in the coming five years, we will do all these things,” the Chief Minister stated.
Omar Abdullah was replying to the motion of thanks on the Lieutenant Governor’s Address in the J&K Legislative Assembly.
Starting his speech, the Chief Minister, who is also Leader of the House, emphasized that the LG’s address sought to highlight the Government’s intentions and priorities.
“Many of the members have come to a conclusion about what was missing in LG’s address. The Government does not work only from one address to another. The Government continues for five years. Four months ago, in front of this very House, LG presented his address. It is not necessary to repeat what was said four months ago. This address is in continuation to that and in addition to that. This address does not replace the one from four months ago but it adds to it. So, the members who are trying to create the impression that we are suddenly silent about some things, or that we did not mention some things are trying to find faults, he said.
He further added, “The intention was to start from there. In this, we added more. Next year, I hope, we will be with the Governor at that time. When the Governor will be with us, we will add more. And we will continue to do this for five years. We made the address concise this time and kept the rest for the later. So, there is no such thing that we are pulling out of our agenda or want to remain silent on something.”
The Chief Minister also responded to questions raised by various members in the House, saying, “Many people from this side (treasury benches) and from the opposition benches, have raised some questions. Some things have been responded and the discussion would continue with the budget speech tomorrow. “After that, we will start the discussion on the budget. And in the coming days, we will give our answers to all the issues that the honourable members have touched upon.”
Speaking on the Public Safety Act (PSA), Abdullah emphasized that preventive detention should not be used as a substitute to legal prosecution. “Now, I would like to talk about the PSA. I do not want to get into politics here. Otherwise, a lot can be said about the PSA. In 2016, PSA was slapped, and then amnesty was announced for such cases but not carried forward. We all know how the termination process started in the previous regime. But it should stop and we will rectify it. We have promised to do it,” he said.
“If PSA is your weapon, then your case is weak. If you keep these people in jail for years and do not prosecute them, it means you do not have a case against them. You just want to keep them in jail. If you say that they are stone throwers, they are OGWs, then why do you need preventive detention? Preventive detention is needed where you cannot make any other case. You filed a PSA against me because you did not have anything else to detain me.”
Speaking on his own detention during the revocation of Article 370 in 2019, the Chief Minister said, “You kept me in confinement for six months on preventive detention. When that time passed, you did not have anything else, so you filed a PSA and detained me for more months. If what you say is true, then instead of PSA, you should file a case and prosecute them.
On the revocation of Article 370 and its consequences and developmental claims of opposition during the discussion, he remarked, “I will not talk much about Article 370, as much was said about it in this august house. I said that we spent time discussing Article 370, but maybe more than that, the opposition side discussed it more.”
CM said that opposition was in awe about what has been done by the Central government in terms of development as if they are speaking on the President’s Address and not the LG Administration He said, “I am only asking you one question—tell me, which of these projects were not possible without removing Article 370?”
The Chief Minister challenged the BJP led opposition’s position further, asking, “Tell me, which of these development projects were not possible before 2019 and were not possible without removing Article 370?”
On the opposition’s remarks, CM said “Where have we disrespected Maharaja ?” On the renaming of places, Omar Abdullah questioned, “Pratap Singh Park, is it still Pratap Singh Park? SMGS Hospital, is it still SMGS Hospital? SMHS Hospital, is it still SMHS Hospital? Is there any name changed in the streets when we were in power? Not at all. I don’t know not in our tenure. Not in other tenures of PDP and Congress.
But tell me, when we talk about the legacy of Maharaja Hari Singh, what is the biggest thing? One was Jammu and Kashmir State. That State is gone now. Where is the State? What have you done to that State? Tell me. This is something to be said.”
Referring to state subject laws, Abdullah highlighted their importance in protecting the rights of the people. “What did the Maharaja leave for us apart from the geography of this region? State subject laws—our land was ours, our jobs were ours. Where are those laws now? What right do you have over your land today? Anyone can take it from you at any time. What right do we have over our jobs?”
Drawing a comparison with Himachal Pradesh, he said, “In Himachal, if there is a factory, legally 70% of the employees are from Himachal. If there is a hotel, then 70% of the employees are from Himachal. What kind of law is now prevailing here?”
Commenting about the Foreign Minister’s remarks on taking back Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, the chief minister asked, “One portion is with Pakistan, but another portion is with China—why doesn’t anyone talk about that? Who has stopped you from taking it back?
Further addressing the issue of Ladakh’s separation, he said, “Why did you separate Ladakh? And you are saying that the people of Ladakh wanted this. Did you ever ask them? Did you ever consult them? From the first day, the people there were not with this decision.”
Responding to criticism and usage of derogatory comments against the 1931 martyrs, he said, “Those 22 people who sacrificed their lives on July 13, 1931—what for? To get a voice, to get some rights. If it was wrong for them to do that, why did Maharaja Saheb take that step after their sacrifice? Why was Glancy Commission formed why was the Justice Dalal Commission set up? Why were elections held afterwards, Prajya Sabha was formed which later became Constituent Assembly, leading to the formation of this Assembly? CM regretted that opposition didn’t have a word of acknowledgement for the sacrifices of martyrs of 13th July. Their only fault was that they were Muslims. Accept this fact.”
Regarding the removal of December 5 as a state holiday, he said, “Whether you keep the 13th of July holiday or not, whether you keep the 5th of December holiday or not, the sacrifices of those people cannot be erased from the hearts of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
He also stressed that removing the 5th of December holiday would not alleviate Kashmir’s problems, adding, “What they, the 13th July Martyrs and Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah did for Kashmir, no one can erase that.”
Concluding his address, Abdullah reaffirmed his party’s commitment to restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and said, “One of the members asked why we did not bring the restoration of statehood to the Assembly. Because we had no doubt that there is no party here, or no person, who does not want statehood. But there is a doubt that some people here are not in favor of it. Bring the resolution, and I am telling you today, we will talk about this and pass the resolution.”
