Jammu|June, 20: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said he was waiting for the fulfilment of the promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event Chief Minister said “Will see whether we have to go legally or not for statehood but till then, we are waiting for the Prime Minister and the Home Minister as they have assured that statehood will be restored to Jammu and Kashmir”. To strengthen public outreach and grievance redress, Abdullah on Friday inaugurated a new Raabta office here at Canal Road after one is functioning in Srinagar (Kashmir valley).
On the issue of reservation in the recruitment, Abdullah however, lashed out at the former J&K Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti stating, “how much she (Mehbooba Mufti) is speaking on this? Where was she when she had the opportunity to raise this issue?”
“When she was contesting elections from Anantnag constituency and seeking votes from Rajouri-Poonch, why did she prefer silence on this matter? Why did the People’s Conference leader, Sajjad Lone, who was close to the BJP, not speak on the reservation issue then?” said Abdullah. He, however, maintained that the Cabinet Sub-Committee framed by his government has submitted its report on reservation issue to the Law Department for remarks before taking a final call thereafter. Moreover, on giving water access to the neighbouring Punjab by Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Minister said, “I am not in favour of this. There is a drought-like situation in Jammu, so first, let us use our water for ourselves.” “Under Indus Water Treaty, Punjab already had water. Did they give us water when we needed it, then why should I send water to Punjab?,” said Abdullah while reacting to the 113 km-long canal proposed for redirecting additional water from three western rivers of the Indus system in Jammu and Kashmir to Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.
Meanwhile, on opening of Raabta office in Jammu, Abdullah said, “We want to reach out to people and after the successful response in Kashmir, we wanted to have a similar office in Jammu as well so that the grievances can be taken via both online and offline modes and can be addressed without any delay.”
