Will knock at doors of judiciary once all other options are exhausted
By: Jehangir Rashid
SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said that any confrontation with the Government of India about the statehood issue will not augur well and it would be considered to be a fight with the central government. He said that the restoration of statehood is one of the big challenges being faced by his government.
Talking to journalists at a media interaction here today, Omar said that since the Supreme Court has directed for the restoration of statehood one can expect the same to be done at the earliest. He exuded confidence that the central government would not waste much time in granting statehood to Jammu & Kashmir.
He said that he will knock at the doors of the court once all the other options of getting back the statehood are exhausted. “Look if I go to court and seek its intervention for restoration of statehood it means I am going to fight with the central government in this regard. I don’t think that is the best option at the moment and let us be hopeful that Jammu & Kashmir will get back its statehood sooner than later,” said the chief minister.
Omar said that the Supreme Court of India while deciding about Article 370 had directed for restoration of statehood even though no time frame was set in this regard. He said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister had time and again said that once the assembly elections are over statehood would be restored to Jammu & Kashmir.
The chief minister said that he is under no pressure from the central government to toe their line adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister have told him that they will extend support to his government since the National Conference has got overwhelming mandate from people in the 2024 assembly elections.
Omar while acknowledging the fact that dual powers of centre lead to confusion said that points of friction between Raj Bhawan and the elected government are being exaggerated by a section of people. He said that he is trying to understand the nuances of governance under a union territory adding that the chief minister of a state is more powerful than his counterpart in a union territory.
Referring to protests carried out by some people against the location of National Institute of Technology (NIT) campus at Pulwama the chief minister said that the government is willing to relocate the campus to some other place in some other district provided all the people of Pulwama agree about the same.
“If the people of Pulwama don’t want the campus of NIT in their district then they should come forward and make it clear to the government. I received from one of the legislators who said that he is willing to offer land for the NIT campus in case the same is not located in the Pulwama district,” said Omar.
The chief minister said that a plan of providing 200 units of free electricity would be rolled out in March-April to the consumers who have got the meters installed. He said the draft of the business rules for governance in Jammu & Kashmir has been completed and the same will be shared with some of the legal luminaries.
Omar said that he stands by the commitment made by the National Conference in its election manifesto adding that he has got the mandate to run the government for five years and not five weeks or five months. He said that he believes in free media and that there would be no pressure on the journalists as to how to work.
The chief minister said that a cabinet sub-committee has been formed to look into the reservation issue adding that the biggest fear as on date is that locals might lose out on jobs and the land will not be available to the locals. He said that the government has no proposal to set any satellite colony anywhere in Kashmir adding that these are just rumours.
Omar claimed that the government is supplying more electricity to the people this year as compared to the previous winter. He said that there is a need to bring down the AT&C losses adding that this would ensure that there will be less transmission losses. He said that all the departments come under the purview of the elected government and there should be no confusion in this regard.
The chief minister hoped that the party MP Aga Syed Ruhullah would lead a protest of parliamentarians demanding restoration of statehood. He said the legacy left behind by the National Conference founder and former chief minister is very rich and the same does not get belittled by the fact that the holiday on account of his birthday has been scrapped.