GOI’s normalcy claim in Kashmir contrary to ground situation: Omar Abdullah

Baramulla : National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Saturday said that GOI’s claim that everything is normal in Jammu and Kashmir is contrary to what is happening on the ground.
Addressing a party Convention here at Baramulla Dak Bungalow he busted the misinformation campaign on NC canvassing for polls. “Nowhere did I seek votes while I was on a tour of the Chenab region. Power is not our destiny. It is a means to achieve our goal. Our destination is beyond getting power. Time has proved that NC has gained strength whenever it was out of power,” he said adding, “We are not averse to the idea of being in power, if our goal requires us to have it, we will with the active support of the masses. However it has never been the fulcrum point of our politics. Whenever the trumpet of election is blown, we will then come again to you with an election manifesto.”
He said the reason behind his outreach to the general public and workers is to congratulate them for their victory in DDC elections. “It is you who have deflated the claims of certain quarters that post abrogation NC was poised to get wiped out. You took it upon yourself to ensure the victory of NC candidates during the elections. Most of the party leaders were caged. Most of us were facing incarceration in jails, and various others were in house detention. Yet, by dint of your deep rooted faith in your party, you came out and defeated those forces who wanted us obliterated,” he added.
Questioning the GoI claims on August 05 2019 decisions, Omar said that the ruling dispensation in New Delhi is proclaiming that everything is hunky dory in Jammu and Kashmir, while as the ground reality belies such flimsy claims. “We were promised that Jammu and Kashmir was in for mega growth, employment, infrastructure build-up, and much more. I believed that the decisions must have given such projected developmental dividends to the people of Jammu at least. But the sullen looks of the people on the other side of Pir Panjal said it all. Not a single job has been given to our youth there, no power projects, roads, hospitals have come up. Hopes of our educated youngsters there have dashed like elsewhere in J&K. People are worried for the future of their kids,” he said.
He stated that the incumbent ruling dispensation has liquidated the Vajpayee
legacy. “It was Vajpayee who opened up the trade and bus service across LoC but today we are being told that it was being misused. The reasons put forth by the government imply that Vajpayee was wrong then. The same Vajpayee, whom they conferred with the highest civilian award of the country. If he wasn’t wrong, then why is it that the biggest CBM’s initiated by him were discontinued?” he added.
“Among other promises, we were told that August 2019 measures will end separatism and militancy. Did it? The prevailing security situation on the roads of Jammu and Kashmir disprove such claims as well, he added.
On land and job rights, Omar said, “If the people of Ladakh are allowed to have exclusive rights over their land, jobs, scholarships, why can’t we in J&K enjoy the same privilege? Why is it that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been at a much lower pedestal?”
On tourism arrivals in Kashmir, Omar said, “As if the tourists all over India were waiting for the articles to be removed. Tourists have been coming to Kashmir in far greater numbers before Aug 05 2019.”
Baramulla has been a bastion of our party, the foundations of our fortress in this historical district are solid and deep rooted, he stated while exhorting functionaries. “We have to reach out to our workers who are waiting for us to reach out to them. The party leadership will ensure that our estranged workers, who are the heart and soul of our party, are back on ground.