Omar Abdullah the National Conference Vice President anf former Chief Minister of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state popular on twitter with 3.2 million followers is re-tweeting and re-posting SOS messages of covid patients from other parts of the country without bothering to take care of thousands of patients’ hospitalised across Jammu & Kashmir. So Omar Abdullah taking care of covid patients of other parts of the country but disowning the covid patients of his own people who voted for his three generations to allow them to rule Jammu & Kashmir for decades together has reduced his covid campaign on twitter to a crude joke. Had Omar been concerned about the people of Jammu & Kashmir, he and his hundreds of formers legislators and dozens of former ministers would have reached out to covid patients in government and private hospitals to mitigate their sufferings. A simple press statement from Omar Abdullah and other mainstream leaders over the death of a dynamic KAS officer Dr Shameem Wani can’t heal the wounds of the family of the deceased. Omar Abdullah or any other frontline mainstream leader did not bother to ask the government that if seven top BJP leaders were last year taken to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspeciality Hospital Katra for specialised treatment, why the government did not shift Dr Shameem Wani also to Katra for better treatment. Omar Abdullah the head of the largest mainstream party could have also taken contributions of Rs10,000 for each one of his party’s hundreds of former legislators and dozens of former Ministers from their monthly pensions to raise funds for treatment of covid patients and other bigger mainstream parties particularly J&K Apni Party , J&K Congress and J&K Peoples’ Conference could have also taken up such a bigger initiative by raising donations from the former legislators and former ministers for supporting covid care facilities including supply of oxygen concentrates and ventilators at both government and private hospitals in Jammu & Kashmir. Remember former legislators are getting monthly pension of not less than Rs 80,000 and as such donating just Rs 10,000 from just one month pension of Rs 80,000 is by all means not a big deal for them.
Though mainstream leaders without getting involved into government’s covid containment processes could have put up a joint fight to teach government a lesson on delivery of critical public services in critical times but how come they can do it when they take pleasure in carrying out political campaigns through tweets and press statements even on deepening covid crisis in Jammu & Kashmir.
This is the time to save human lives through donations for treatment of covid patients crying for oxygen supplies and ventilators at the hospitals instead of carrying out political campaigns over covid care facilities in other parts of the country as state governments in rest of the country are obliged to take care of covid patients in their respective states. Though Farooq Abdullah has recommended release of 1.5 crores for the covid care facilities from MPLADS ,i.e., Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme but the other two National Conference Parliament Members have not recommended any amount from MPLADS- Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme for covid care facilities. Remember leaders have to lead the people from the front to release the psychological and mental stress mounting on them due to the nonstop surge in the fresh strain of covid-19 pandemic. Though mainstream leaders without getting involved into government’s covid containment processes could have put up a joint fight to teach government a lesson on delivery of critical public services in critical times but how come they can do it when they take pleasure in carrying out political campaigns through tweets and press statements even on deepening covid crisis in Jammu & Kashmir.
