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Journalism of Courage
National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Monday alleged that elections in Jammu and Kashmir were being deferred as BJP was “not brave enough to face voters’’ as it had failed to mitigate their sufferings.
“They are not ready to face people but are escaping from (Assembly) elections on one pretext or the other. They used the pretext of delimitation of constituencies and revision of electoral rolls which stands completed long back. They talked about the weather not being conducive but have no justification to further delay the polls,’’ Abdullah said without naming the BJP, which is facing public resentment following the recent anti-encroachment drives, the imposition of property tax, and cancellation of recruitments to various government agencies.
The NC leader made the remarks at his first rally in Jammu district since the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of J&K on August 5, 2019. The public meeting was held in Bajalta in the Nagrota constituency.
“Had they been brave, they would have gone for the elections,’’ Abdullah said, adding, “After today’s public rally, some people (among the BJP) who were supportive of early elections will also feel jittery.” It was an apparent reference to former NC MLA Devender Rana who joined the BJP in October 2021. The constituency elected the BJP’s Jugal Sharma in 2002 and 2008 but voted for Rana in 2014.
Hitting out at the Union Territory’s administration over the anti-encroachment drive and its decision to impose property tax, Abdullah claimed that even those who celebrated the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Ladakh were equally sad. “We were angry from day one, but there were some people who celebrated it with a hope of ‘New J&K’. The people in Leh are openly saying that they were happy to be part of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Referring to job seekers’ ongoing protest against the administration for allegedly engaging a blacklisted company to conduct exams for various government vacancies, the NC leader demanded an inquiry into the decision to bring such a firm to J&K while it stood blacklisted elsewhere in the country.
Referring to the Emaar Group of the United Arab Emirates, the developer of the Burj Khalifa, announced a shopping mall project worth Rs 500 crore in Srinagar and an IT tower, Abdullah said, “They are only engaged in propaganda, drama and showoff … Sometime back, we heard of an outside company making an investment in Srinagar, but it proved much ado about nothing.”
Taking on the government the VIP treatment given to a conman from Gujarat who pretended to be an official from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the NC vice-president said, “How can we expect a government resolve our real issues when it cannot differentiate between an actual officer at the PMO and an imposter?”
Abdullah said he regrets that his party colleagues, including former ministers who had survived terror attacks, were not given security escorts despite requests while the conman, Kiran Patel, was provided five-star accommodation and escorted to the Line of Control.
Later, talking to the media, the NC leader dismissed J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s accusation that previous governments provided jobs to terrorists and their families, making one lakh back-door appointments.
“No terrorist was given a job, but we did not punish people because they were relatives of terrorists. Is it fair for me to punish you for the crime committed by your father, or for the crime of a son? Tomorrow, if god forbid, a close relative of (Lt Governor) Manoj Sinha sahab commits a crime, should he be sent to jail? It is not the law of natural justice to punish relatives for the crimes of someone else,’’ he said.
Asked about the termination of the services of 47 government employees on charges of involvement in anti-national activities, the former J&K Chief Minister said, “In lakhs of appointments, if you find only 47, it is nothing.”
