‘Statehood no excuse for not working,’ says L-G Sinha; ‘how long must we wait?’ retorts Abdullah

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha on Friday said the elected government must not make statehood an excuse for not doing its work, eliciting a retort from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who said he was doing his job despite the “hurdles” created by the Centre.

Earlier in the day, Sinha made the charge that statehood cannot be used as an excuse for underperformance, as the elected government has all the powers.

Addressing the J-K UT Foundation Day celebrations at SKICC here, Sinha said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has stated in the Parliament that delimitation first, assembly election second, and then the restoration of the statehood at an appropriate time.

“But some people have some problems. When the Assembly election was held, it was clear that it was taking place for the UT Assembly. They (elected government) cannot make the excuse that work cannot be done till statehood is restored,” the L-G said.

Abdullah hit back at the Centre’s nominee, saying the elected government was not making any excuses.

“We are told to work and not make excuses. We do not make excuses. We are performing despite the hurdles created in our way,” the Chief Minister said at a function at Eidgah.

“Today, the destruction that we are seeing, unemployment, decrease in GST earnings, vacant hotels, restaurants, taxis and houseboats, decrease in the sales of our handicrafts. Why? Because there was an attack in Pahalgam. Who is responsible for the security here? It is not in my hands. Had it been, we would have never allowed the situation to become such in J-K,” he said.

Abdullah said that in his six-year tenure as chief minister from 2009 to 2014, not a single attack on tourists took place.

“Twenty-six of our guests were killed in Pahalgam, and we are advised to work. We know how to work. You do your job, we will do ours,” he said, referring to the April 22 terrorist attack in the resort town.

Abdullah said the L-G should at least talk about the promise made to the people of J-K in the Supreme Court and Parliament.

“Why are these people so afraid of statehood? Why don’t they want to let go of power?” the National Conference leader said, adding, of 90 MLAs elected to the assembly, barring one or two, everyone, irrespective of the party, sought votes in the name of statehood.

“Tell us how long we should wait? We are told that it will be restored at the appropriate time. Alright, I will wait, but tell me what the scale is to assess the right time. How do we measure the appropriate time?” he asked.

Abdullah said the terms and conditions for restoration should be made clear so that his government would know what they ought to do for it.

“As a CM, I should know that this is the milestone or goal we have to reach where J-K will get its statehood. We should at least come to know that this is the target,” he said.