Dissolve J&K Assembly to prevent horse-trading : NC

Srinagar, June 20

National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the party’s core group which demanded the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly to thwart any attempt at horse-trading.

Omar chaired the meeting at party headquarters here to discuss the prevailing situation and recent developments in the state in the aftermath of the fall of the PDP-BJP coalition government.

Later, speaking to the media, the NC leader said the party sought the dissolution of the state’s Legislative Assembly “to thwart attempts and plans of horse-trading as this would result in further erosion in the credibility of the democratic process and institutions in the state”.

Omar said the dialogue “internally as well as externally was imperative and the political issue in Kashmir as well as the ensuing crisis could not be resolved through operational and military means”.

“There should be zero-tolerance for human rights violations and the fundamental rights of the people should be upheld at all costs,” he said.

He said the foremost concern should be to provide relief to the people of the state through a reconciliatory “rather than confrontational approach and to work towards creating a peaceful, positive atmosphere in the state”.

He said the erstwhile Mehbooba government would be remembered for “its ruthless, anti-people legacy that fuelled alienation in the Valley through its iron-fist approach to deal with widespread disenchantment and disillusionment”.

“PDP’s approach to deal with recurring crises in the Valley was an approach of denial, persecution and insensitivity evidenced by her silence on glaring human rights violations where youth were used as human shields and mowed down by vehicles in stark contrast to the hollow rhetoric of the former Chief Minister,” he said. — TNS