Srinagar, Sep 10: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday defended National Conference chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq over his recent remarks, saying the statement was historically accurate and that neither Tanvir nor the party needed to apologise or issue any clarification.
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, CM Omar, according to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said the poverty and hardships faced by Kashmiris in the past were well documented by historians and were not Tanvir’s personal opinion.
“What Tanvir said is historically accurate. He does not need to apologise or clarify what he said,” Omar said.
He said Walter Lawrence and several other historians had written about Jammu and Kashmir, particularly about the poverty of Kashmiris and the manner in which people were trapped under the system of Zaildars, Chakdars and landlords.
“People did not have money. Tanvir did not talk about this first. Maybe there is a senior National Conference leader, from our President to General Secretary and others, who did not talk about this,” Omar said.
“There was a time when Kashmiris were so poor that they had to come to the city with their pyjamas from the mosque. This is not Tanvir’s own thinking. This is a historical fact,” he added.
The Chief Minister said Tanvir’s intention was perhaps to highlight the progress Kashmiris had made from those difficult circumstances, saying people were now educating their children and producing doctors and engineers.
He alleged that the BJP and PDP were playing the same “match” and had a common agenda in raising the issue.
“Tanvir does not need to apologise for this. Nor does he need to give any clarification. Nor does my party need to apologise for this. Tanvir did not do anything wrong,” he said.
On the Congress objecting to the singing of the full stanzas of Vande Mataram, Omar said the government had to comply with the existing law and statutory obligations. “We have to follow the law. If Congress comes to power, they can repeal the law. But as long as the law exists, we have to follow it,” he said.
Omar said the function involving two Governors, the Lieutenant Governor and the Acting Chief Justice of the High Court would necessarily have the National Anthem, while the existing provisions also require the full stanzas of Vande Mataram wherever the National Anthem is played at government functions.
He said the provision was not limited to Jammu and Kashmir but applied across the country, including Congress-ruled states. “If this does not happen, then people who do not stand on full stanzas, legal action can be taken against them. So what does the Congress want? For Kashmiris to be imprisoned with this excuse? This is a statutory obligation,” he said.
On the film festival, the Chief Minister reiterated that the government is trying to create opportunities for local youth in filmmaking and production. “I said on the first day itself that we are trying to get our local kids to do camera work, production, all these things. They should do courses in this. And there should be film shootings here,” he said.—(KNO)
