Focus on winning hearts of people in Kashmir valley: Omar to Centre

Our Correspondent

Srinagar, March 27

Days after a daughter and granddaughter of separatist leaders issued public statements dissociating themselves from their families, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said the government’s move to compel people to publish such notices in newspapers mirrored the tactics employed by militants in the 1990s with National Conference workers.

Addressing a gathering in Budgam, Omar said the government was claiming that normalcy had returned to the Valley. “They argue that with the removal of Article 370, separatist ideologies have also vanished. Yet, just a few days ago, we witnessed the public statements made by the daughters of separatist leaders. What fault lies with their grandchildren and granddaughters? It mirrors the situation faced by NC workers during the onset of conflict in Kashmir in 1990. At gunpoint, NC workers were coerced into issuing statements in newspapers disassociating themselves from the NC and its politics,” he said.

“Today, we are witnessing a similar scenario, but the pressure is coming from the government,” he said, adding that the family members of separatists were summoned and compelled to publicly disavow their relatives’ beliefs, intentions and affiliations, and told to pledge allegiance to the nation’s integrity.

Omar said one cannot change hearts overnight. “Those NC workers who were forced into issuing public statements did not abandon the NC. In the morning, they’d disassociate themselves publicly, but by the evening, they’d come to me and reaffirm their unwavering loyalty to the NC, saying that the party was in their hearts,” he said.

“Public notices won’t alter anything. You must win hearts. While you can compel people to issue statements through force, you won’t win their hearts,” the former Chief Minister said.

“Focus on winning the hearts of people. Avoid making false promises...Youth in Kashmir were told that the NC was the only impediment in their employment and livelihoods. Today, I ask where are those jobs you promised to youth after August 5, 2019?” he questioned.

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