Gulmarg, Jun 24: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday asserted that statehood is not the privilege of elected representatives but the constitutional and democratic right of the people of the region.
Speaking to reporters, Omar took strong exception to recent media reports, suggesting that the restoration of statehood would only come after fresh assembly elections.
“It’s good if statehood is restored as soon as possible. Even I read in a newspaper that it will get restored, but only after fresh assembly elections. Let them hold elections, who has stopped them?” the Chief Minister said.
He dismissed the reports as “planted stories” aimed at creating confusion and cast elected legislators as obstacles to progress.
“I know it is a planted story, designed to create fear. The aim is to suggest that MLAs will say no to elections and wait for five years. But let me be clear, statehood is not for any MLA or government; it is for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. And we MLAs will not be a bottleneck to it,” he said.
CM Omar also said that if they are being threatened with dissolution of the assembly for asking for statehood, then they can go ahead and do it. “The day statehood is restored, I will myself tell the Governor to dissolve the assembly. But don’t threaten us,” he said.
Calling for an end to speculative reporting and politically motivated narratives, the Chief Minister said the time had come for the Centre to uphold its commitment to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “These planted stories should be stopped. They will not work. People know the truth. Statehood is our right, and they have to give it to us without conditions and without delay.” (KNO)
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