Will raise statehood restoration with PM Modi, Shah soon: Omar

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said he will again take up the matter of restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

“The Prime Minister and the Home Minister were busy with elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. But now that they have time, this issue will be taken up so that J&K’s statehood is restored soon,” Omar told reporters after attending a function to commemorate the 42nd foundation day of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences(SKIMS) here.

The foundation for the hospital was laid on the birth anniversary of National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on this day in 1982, less than three months after his demise.

Asked if the holiday on the NC founder’s birth anniversary will be restored, the Chief Minister said there are many things that need to be brought back in Jammu and Kashmir, but the priority is to restore its statehood first.

“There are many other dates as well, but we have to fight a bigger contest. We have to fight for the restoration of J&K’s statehood. We are hopeful that the Prime Minister will keep his promise made not to us, but to the people of J&K during the Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly polls that followed,” Omar said.

“The elections saw huge participation of people. There were no complaints of people being forcibly taken to the booths. Rather, they went on their own and made the elections a huge success with the hope that the promises made to them will be fulfilled,” he said.

On the importance of SKIMS Hospital, Omar said it was built so that people of J&K do not feel the need to go to other tertiary care institutes such as the PGI or AIIMS. “This hospital has served the people of J&K. Yet there are some weaknesses and shortcomings. The autonomy of SKIMS, along with its engineering wing, must be restored,” said the CM.

Responding to another question, Omar criticised the “victimisation” of Muslims in the country.”We are not seeking appeasement, but non-appeasement does not mean you will target us. Do not target us,” he said.

“Going after our mosques and shrines, or our way of practising our religion, you are victimising us and this is not the India that J&K was a part of, this is not the India our founding fathers envisaged, this is not the India that has the word secular in its Constitution and until that is there, keep it secular,” he said.

Talking about the attack on Sukhbir Badal, Omar said it is a matter of concern that a former deputy chief minister, a Z-plus category protectee, could be attacked in broad daylight. “I spoke to Sukhbir yesterday after the attack on him. I expressed our gratefulness to Almighty that he survived that attack.

“Obviously, this needs to be looked at how did this happen and ensure this does not happen again in the future,” Omar added.