‘Attacks in Jammu testimony that special status was not responsible for terrorism’
Jammu: Omar Abdullah strongly criticized the BJP, challenging the party to name a single developmental project that was impossible to implement before the abrogation of Article 370. He contested LoP Sunil Sharma’s claims that abrogation of Article 370 has brought normalcy and eradicated corruption.
He said “whether the developmental projects he spoke about were possible only with the abrogation of Article 370”. Most of these projects started before 2014, he said and challenged the BJP leader to tell the House about one project which was not possible to be completed under Article 370 status.
“Terrorism has risen in the Jammu region and who is responsible for that. The militancy has again raised its head in the areas which were declared terrorism free during my earlier tenure. There has been a sudden spurt of terrorism related incidents in Jammu region. I am implying that if Article 370 was responsible for terrorism, then why terrorism did not end after its (Art 370) abrogation”, Omar said. He said the BJP members raised the issue of the fraud in Jal Jeevan Mission showing that the corruption has not ended.
“You talked about terrorism because of Article 370. But at the same time, you have been saying that terrorism was because of Pakistan. If Pakistan was responsible for terrorism, why blame Article 370, and if it was responsible, then why not talk to Pakistan? A few MLAs said that Article 370 will never be back, but we say it otherwise. How do you say that such a situation will never be back? Who knows what will happen in the future? If a three-bench judgment is reversed by a five-bench, and a five-bench judgment could be reversed by a seven-bench, it will continue till the court decides,” he responded.
“Name any development project which could have been implemented before the Abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Share any miracle which took place after abrogation of Article 370”, he said referring to BJP members.
Abdullah accused the BJP of repeatedly justifying the removal of Article 370 without providing any concrete examples to support their claims. “Listening to the Leader of Opposition’s speech, I felt for a moment that I was in Parliament rather than the J&K Assembly,” Abdullah remarked, accusing the Leader of Opposition of focusing more on central government projects than on addressing local governance issues.
Abdullah urged the BJP to provide a clear response during the upcoming budget session. “You may say you didn’t get a chance to answer today. Fine. At least tell us in the budget session—what development has taken place that was not possible before August 2019?” he said.
He also questioned Sharma for linking Article 370 with decline in terrorism. “If Pakistan is behind the terrorism then why blame Article 370…if Article 370 was responsible, then why terrorism spread to Jammu region after its abrogation, the areas which were declared terrorism-free during my (previous) tenure,” he said.
The attacks on pilgrims in Reasi, civilians in Rajouri and other places in the past few years stand testimony that Article 370 was not responsible for terrorism, he added.
Omar also targeted the Public Safety Act(PSA) as a tool to harass people. He questioned why the people who are detained are not prosecuted if you have sufficient proof. “If you have evidence against these youths, make cases against them and prosecute them. You also levelled PSA against me and kept me in detention for six months. But your statements and ground situation is different”, he said.
Reacting to the demand of Sajad Lone to bring a resolution on statehood like what was done for special status in the previous session, the CM said, “I thought no member of the House is against the restoration of statehood. You bring a resolution and all my members will support this.” Abdullah also questioned the political reservation granted to the Scheduled Tribe community and said the number of Gujjar leaders in the House dropped from nine to six.
