Srinagar: Omar Abdullah on Thursday expressed concern over the use of force on protestors in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), and hoped that peace would be maintained.
“As far as the situation in that part of Kashmir is concerned, we are all worried,” the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said while speaking with reporters in Ganderbal district.
“The reports coming from there, the way force is being used and innocent people are being targeted — we can only hope that peace is maintained there,” he added.
Asked if the protest by the National Conference in Delhi on July 20 over the issue of statehood had yielded any results, Abdullah said a single protest would not bring results.
“If results came out of one protest, then all the issues raised by the Cockroach Janta Party would have been resolved when they held their first protest there for a single day,” he said.
The chief minister said his party held the demonstration in Delhi “knowing that we won’t gain anything from the very first protest”.
“But at least we are marking our stance. At least you people (mediapersons) keep asking us about statehood, but the rest of the country’s media forgets that a promise was made to Jammu and Kashmir which has not been fulfilled yet.”
On the opposition PDP’s announcement of holding protests across the Union territory on August 5, Abdullah said his party did not wait for August 5, and went to Delhi to raise the issue.
“This August 5 protest has now become a compulsion for those people. We didn’t wait, we went to Delhi earlier. We got our resolution passed in the assembly. The assembly has passed a resolution regarding Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and constitutional guarantees and sent it to the Centre,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the chief minister inspected various development works in Ganderbal — the constituency he represents.
Earlier, he reviewed key development projects and public issues in the Ganderbal district.
Abdullah undertook an extensive tour of Ganderbal, his home constituency, holding a series of public engagements and chairing a review meeting to assess the progress of key developmental projects and obtain a first-hand account of issues affecting the district, an official spokesperson said.
He said the chief minister inspected the ongoing construction of the New Bus Adda Road, a vital infrastructure project expected to significantly ease traffic congestion in the area.
Stressing the importance of timely completion, Abdullah directed the executing agencies to expedite the pace of work so that the road could be dedicated to the public at the earliest.
The chief minister chaired a review meeting to take stock of the progress of major development initiatives and deliberate on long-pending public issues in the district.
The meeting focused on road connectivity, irrigation infrastructure, flood protection measures, sewerage facilities, solid waste management, land acquisition and other critical projects aimed at improving public service delivery, the spokesperson said.
The deputy commissioner presented a detailed overview of the district’s priority development issues requiring urgent government intervention. The deputy commissioner highlighted the need to expedite land acquisition for several road-widening projects and the approach road to the Paribal-Takanwari bridge, strengthen irrigation canals and power canal embankments, improving road connectivity to the Central University of Kashmir, development of tourism infrastructure and a sewage treatment plant (STP) at Manasbal.
Abdullah emphasised that delays in execution should be minimised, and directed the departments to maintain close inter-departmental coordination so that the benefits of development reach the people without unnecessary delay.
