Ahmedabad: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday appealed to the Centre to grant statehood to the union territory and hand over all the responsibilities to the local government, asserting that they were competent enough.
He expressed confidence that if granted powers, the local government can once again improve the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
“I believe that all the responsibilities must be handed over to us. I have been saying since day one to give us the responsibility of security. People elected us, gave reins in our hands, then we should also get all the responsibilities,” Abdullah told reporters here during an interaction.
“And it is not that we are incompetent or that we cannot do the work. In my previous tenure of six years (as CM), you can see our graph. There was a reduction in militancy, terror attacks and casualties of security forces. We had improved the situation. We can improve it again if we are once again given the powers,” he added.
Abdullah was responding to a question about his government’s role in ensuring the safety of tourists in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.
He has been on a two-day visit to Gujarat from Wednesday to promote tourism in Jammu and Kashmir. His visit was part of a tourism promotion event organised by the Travel Agents Society of Kashmir (TASK), the apex body of tour operators of Kashmir.
Following the terror attack, all the tourism destinations were closed for security audit and reopened only after the authorities were satisfied on that front, Abdullah said.
He added that tourism in his union territory got affected after the Pahalgam terror attack, but asserted that people associated with the industry were not sitting idle either.
In one of the worst terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in recent history, 26 tourists, including several from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka, were killed at Pahalgam on April 22 this year.
Among them were Shailesh Kalthia from Surat, and the father-son duo from Bhavnagar Yatish Parmar and Smit Parmar. The attack also dealt a blow to Kashmir’s tourism economy.
“I am not denying that the Pahalgam terror attack had affected our tourism industry. Because it happened in the beginning of the peak season and everyone left the state overnight after the attack. But Kashmir is not empty and we have not come here in despair.
“We just want more people to visit Jammu and Kashmir. So don’t harbour any misunderstanding. Lakhs of people have already visited Kashmir for Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra and for Amarnath Yatra (after the Pahalgam attack),” he said.
“Gujarat, Maharashtra and West Bengal are our biggest markets. Our message to all of them is that Jammu and Kashmir is not shut for tourism. It is open. I invite people of Gujarat to come there and enjoy our hospitality,” Abdullah said.
When asked to comment on US President Donald Trump’s announcement to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader took a swipe at the Modi government, saying even they do not have any idea about what to do in this situation.
“The central government never called me to take my opinion on how they can deal with the Trump administration. Nor do I think they know what should be done. Because even the Americans do not know what to do with Trump saheb,” he added.
“No one knows what mood Trump would be in the morning. Today, he imposed a 25 per cent tariff on us, tomorrow he will say it should be 15, then it will come down to 5. We cannot make any policy in such a situation. Let it go on as it is,” he said.
After his arrival here, Abdullah held a meeting with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in Gandhinagar on Wednesday.
“The meeting focused on deepening inter-state relations, promoting tourism and sharing best practices for inclusive development,” Abdullah’s office said in a post on ‘X’ on Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, the J&K CM went for jogging near the iconic Atal Bridge at the Sabarmati Riverfront here.
“While in Ahmedabad for a tourism event, I took advantage of being here to get my morning run at the famed Sabarmati River Front promenade. It’s one of the nicest places I’ve been able to run & it was a pleasure to get to share it with so many other walkers/runners. I even managed to run past the amazing Atal Foot Bridge” he said in a post on ‘X’.
Later during the day, he visited the Statue of Unity in Narmada district and inaugurated the Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.
