Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today announced the launch of a door to door signature campaign across the Union Territory for the restoration of J&K’s statehood.
In his first Independence Day speech after getting elected as Chief Minister of Union Territory of J&K, Omar said that he had believed that J&K would not benefit from fighting with the Centre and achieve something from good relations with it but it takes two hands to clap.
Omar unfurled the National Flag at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar.
Omar said it was now time to “step out of offices and raise our voice at the doors in Delhi where decisions are being made for us.”
He stated that, while letters, resolutions, and meetings had been used earlier, the next step would involve reaching every village of Jammu and Kashmir to get support for statehood restoration as the Supreme Court would hear the petition on statehood restoration after eight weeks.
“So from today, I and my colleagues will not sit. We will not get tired. We will use these eight weeks to reach every 90 assembly constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir, knocking on every door, and asking one question: Do you want J&K back to statehood or not?” Omar said. He added that those unable to sign would be asked for thumb impressions, and the collected signatures would be submitted to both the central government and the Supreme Court.
“If people refuse to sign, I will accept that J&K is satisfied with the current situation,” the chief minister remarked, expressing confidence that “millions” would support the demand.
The Supreme Court yesterday sought the central government’s response in 8 weeks on Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood petition. The Supreme Court observed that ground realities, like what happened in Pahalgam , could not be ignored.
The Chief Minister termed the linking of restoration of statehood with Pahalgam terror attack “unjust” and “punishing people for a crime they did not commit.”
He questioned whether statehood would be under the control of external forces.
“If J&K becomes a state again, will our government not decide Will our Supreme Court not decide? Will the killers of Pahalgam and their masters in the neighbouring country (Pakistan) decide whether we will be a state? Every time we are close to statehood, they will do something to sabotage it. Is this fair? Why are we being punished for a crime in which we had no role?” he said.
The chief minister said the people of J&K were being unfairly linked to the Pahalgam incident despite widespread condemnation across the region.
“From Kathua to Kupwara, there is no city, village, or house where people did not say the attack was not in our name,” he stressed.
Recalling India’s military response to cross-border aggression under “Operation Sindoor,” Omar said J&K residents had stood firmly against terrorism. “Yet, the Pahalgam attack is now being used to deny us statehood. This is neither justice nor fairness,” he said.
Omar said there were hopes that J&K statehood may be restored on this Independence Day.
“Our friends and well-wishers have been telling me again and again that something will change this year.
This year there will be an announcement. Wait for it?. On 15th August, there will be a big announcement from Delhi for Jammu and Kashmir. The truth is that there was no hope. But the truth is that when a person listens to something again and again, somewhere in a small corner of the heart, a thought goes and settles,” Omar said.
“?I was even told that the papers are being prepared. Now it’s just a matter of time. You wait. It’s done. We waited. It didn’t happen. ? The hope I had a few days ago may not be there today, but I will keep coming back to it,” Omar asserted.
Omar said that he does not want anyone to be the Chief Minister of a Union Territory claiming that “this system of governance is not for success, it is for failure.”
“?I didn’t realise it was going to be so difficult. I did not know that attempts would be made to change the decisions of the Cabinet without the approval of the Cabinet. I did not know that decisions of the Cabinet would be stopped. They would not be approved. They would be locked up somewhere and forgotten. I didn’t expect this, ” he said.
Omar compared his government’s functioning to a horse with its front legs tied.
“We have been given authority, but our hands are tied behind our backs,” he said
Admitting that he had always held that J&K would not benefit from fighting with the Centre, but achieve something from good relations with it, the CM said, “I had to hear taunts for this. I was made fun of for this? However, it takes two hands to clap.”
However, he defended his ten-month tenure, saying key steps had been taken to restore the region’s rights.
“As soon as we came, we secured the passage of a resolution in the J&K Assembly to restore the special status of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. Omar said that the cabinet had also passed a resolution for the restoration of statehood and that budget provisions were made to benefit the people of the Union Territory.
Earlier, the Chief Minister paid floral tributes at the Balidan Stambh in Srinagar, honoring the supreme sacrifices of the martyrs.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah laid a wreath at the memorial and observed a moment of silence as a mark of respect for those who laid down their lives in the service of the nation.
