Srinagar: National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir belied the projected claims of peace and development by the Government of India post the abrogation of the Articles 370, 35-A.
Omar said this while addressing the provincial committee meeting at party headquarters Nawa e Subh in Srinagar.
“We were told that J&K was poised for big development and massive investment post Aug 05 2019 actions. Where is it?,” he asked. “The ground reality in the streets and roads of Jammu and Kashmir belie such claims. Where is the projected dawn?”
On the contrary, Omar said “the ruling dispensation has made J&K, a simmering cauldron of discontent with its lopsided policies.”
Instead of the positive results that were promised, Omar said “the picture has changed to worse. Reality is that there is a systematic disempowerment of people of Jammu and Kashmir that is continuing to happen, through bureaucratic rule.”
Further adding that the claims of the BJP that the abrogation of Article 370 and the downgrading of the state with special status into two union territories had paved the way for new industries, employment opportunities, decreased militancy, and “Central laws for betterment of people in this region are far-fetched. The ground situation belies these claims.”
Omar said the government’s own figure on unemployment rate in J&K laid bare the hoax of employment generation in the region.
He stated that after the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, national media and government officials have repeatedly insisted that Kashmir was limping back to normalcy. “However the ground reality in the shape of garrisoning cities with bunkers, targeted killings, the ongoing Poonch encounter and increased foot print of forces and police personnel deflate such a claim,” he said.
Omar pointed out that the BJP had also claimed that abrogation of Articles 370, 35-A will pave the way for the return of Kashmiri Pandits but “today the same BJP is going white in the face denying that Pandits are leaving in droves. But the evidence on the ground – both in Kashmir and Jammu – is clear.”
He also sought credit for the return of some Pandit families under the PM’s package announced during his tenure.
“During my tenure as CM the situation had improved to an extent that thousands of Pandit youth had started opting for government jobs in Kashmir,” he said. “Hundreds of families had come back and had started living along side their Muslim brethren.”
He added: “In our tenure the situation had improved to such an extent where the further extension of AFSPA was under discussion. Today the security situation is yet again on the edge and continues to deteriorate every single day.”
Pointing out to the extensive window dressing of the incumbent administration, he said the people are suffering on different accounts ranging from inflation, development deficit, to rising unemployment and administrative inertia. “Denying democracy, fundamental rights, press freedom and equitable development to people in J&K is the galling aspect of the post August 2019 scenario,” he said.
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