Srinagar, Sep 2: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday accused the police and the administration of adopting different standards while dealing with protests by the BJP and the National Conference, claiming while the saffron leaders were escorted, those from his party were dragged.
Talking to reporters, Abdullah said while police “facilitated” the BJP leaders during their march to the Civil Secretariat on Wednesday, his National Conference (NC) colleagues were “brutally repressed”.
“You saw one protest that was denied. It showed the situation in J&K today: if you want to march on the Chief Minister’s residence, you’re allowed to; if you want to gherao the Secretariat, you’re allowed to; but if you want to protest outside the BJP’s office, God forbid, you will not be allowed, because the police are there only to protect the honour of the BJP; they don’t care about anything else,” the Chief Minister said.
The BJP too held a large protest against the alleged “failure” of the J&K government, with hundreds of party workers assembling near the Clock Tower at Lal Chowk.
The protesters had planned a gherao of the Civil Secretariat – the seat of the J&K government – but were stopped by police near Hari Singh High Street.
Abdullah said he saw videos of journalists interacting with the BJP leaders during the latter’s protest march.
“I saw many of you accompanying that protest. The ease with which you were able to interview the leader of the opposition (Sunil Sharma) was seen by all. You saw how the BJP was allowed to protest, but the NC was not.
“So, please don’t draw false equals. One side was facilitated, the other was brutally repressed. My colleagues were dragged and injured, and some of them had to seek treatment in hospitals,” Abdullah claimed.
Responding to Suni Sharma’s demand for his resignation as the chief minister, Abdullah said there was no reason for him to step down.
“Why should I resign? Should we assume that they have no intention of granting statehood to this government? If so, why are we not hearing it directly from the Centre? If they truly intend to tear the Constitution to shreds, disrespect the Supreme Court, disrespect Parliament and prove Modi’s promise as false, let them do so. I am not going to resign just to please the LoP,” Abdullah said.
The chief minister said the people of J&K gave his party a mandate for five years and he will present a report card to them.
“As for the allegations (of corruption), does my government even have the authority to conduct an investigation? Let the LoP tell us what investigation was carried out. If backdoor appointments took place, which agency investigated them? Let him name just one.
“The Anti-Corruption Bureau is not under my control. The Crime Branch is not under my control. The CID is not under my control, let alone the central agencies. Tell us, where was an FIR filed?” he asked.
Abdullah also accused the BJP of making baseless allegations since it didn’t have anything else to say.
“We are bearing the brunt of their mistakes; we are trying to fix them, yet they are the ones protesting,” he said.
Asked about RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remark that Muslims cannot be downgraded, the chief minister said it needs to be put into practice.
Addressing members of the Indian-American community in New York recently, Bhagwat said that if any Hindu believes there should be no Muslims in Bharat, “he will not remain a Hindu”.
“Making a statement is one thing; putting it into practice is another. The truth is, what the RSS chief said sounded good. But it has to show on the ground,” Abdullah said.
On the Supreme Court quashing all FIRs against student protesters, Abdullah said the BJP had been on the back foot for quite some time.
“Ever since the Cockroach Janta Party was launched and Gen Z took the matter forward, the BJP has been on the back foot. We will see how long it remains on the back foot,” he said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed all the FIRs registered against students who participated in the CJP-led protests across the country between July 20 and 25, prompting the group to call off its September 5 march in the national capital.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant also directed the Centre to provide compensation to families of students who ended their lives over the NEET paper leak within three months
