Omar ridicules Jammu separation call

Jammu, Jan 22: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday strongly rejected the demand raised by fringe elements for separating Jammu from Kashmir, asserting that the people of the Union Territory will not allow any division of Jammu and Kashmir.
Reacting to remarks made by Sunil Sharma, Omar Abdullah said that if Sharma aspires to become the Chief Minister, he must seek leadership of the entire Jammu and Kashmir. He said that shrinking Jammu and Kashmir for political ambitions would reduce such leadership to the level of a mayor of a few localities.
“If Sunil Sharma wants to become the Chief Minister, he should become the Chief Minister of the whole Jammu and Kashmir. If he wants to shrink Jammu and Kashmir, then he can at best become the mayor of a few areas like Kanak Mandi and Raghunath Bazar,” Omar Abdullah said while addressing party workers.
The Chief Minister said that people from Ramban, Doda, Kishtwar, Rajouri, Bani, Poonch and a major part of Reasi are not with those advocating division and do not support the idea of separating Jammu from Kashmir. He asserted that Jammu as a separate entity would be too small and politically unviable.
Addressing National Conference workers, Omar Abdullah said that as long as the party’s flag continues to wave across the region, no one would be allowed to divide Jammu and Kashmir. [KNT]