Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said that they have to fight a big battle for restoration of Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to honour the promises made during the Lok Sabha and assembly elections to people.
He emphasized that the assurances were not made by the Prime Minister to political leaders but directly to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“We have to fight a big battle right now. And that battle is for Jammu and Kashmir to regain its status as a State. ?The Prime Minister promised statehood to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and not to us during the Parliament and Assembly elections.
The people of Jammu and Kashmir participated in these elections voluntarily, without any coercion, and they did so with the hope that these promises especially the restoration of statehood would be fulfilled,” Omar told reporters on the sidelines of the foundation day of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar.
“The Prime Minister and Home Minister were busy to their commitments in Maharashtra and Jharkhand (referring to Assembly elections in these states) and now they must be a little free and now they will be talking to so that Jammu and Kashmir gets the status of a state as soon as possible,” the Chief Minister said.
Speaking on recent surveys of mosques and shrines in the country, he strongly criticized what he described as targeted actions against Muslim religious institutions, urging the government to uphold the secular principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
“Our Constitution guarantees the freedom to live and practice our faith freely, irrespective of religion. The word secular is at the heart of our Constitution, and as long as it remains, it binds us to respect the rights of every community, including those who choose not to follow any religion,” Omar stated.
He expressed concern victimization of Muslims.
“We don’t ask for appeasement, but not appeasing us doesn’t mean that you will target us. Why are our mosques, shrines, and religious practices being scrutinized and attacked? This is not the India that our founding fathers envisioned, nor the one Jammu and Kashmir chose to be a part of,” the Chief Minister said.
Omar said the country should not deviate from India’s secular ethos. “If the word secular no longer holds value, then remove it from the Constitution. But as long as it is there, the country must remain secular,” he urged.
On the assassination attempt on Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, Omar said the attack was a matter of concern.
“Thank to the Almighty that he survived that attack. We spoke about the situation. Obviously, some of the things that he shared with me are not for public consumption. But it’s a matter of concern. If in daylight hours, a former Deputy Chief Minister, a Z-plus category protectee can be attacked like this. Obviously, this needs to be looked at,” the CM said.
He urged authorities to take the incident seriously.
“We cannot forget the difficult phase Punjab endured during the 1980s and early 1990s. God forbid, we see anything like that again,” Abdullah said.
