NEW DELHI, Feb 24: Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said that Jammu And Kashmir is being denied an elected government since 2018. He said that the state has not seen Assembly elections since 2014. He said that if you could have an Assembly election in 1996, when situation was much worse, then you can do it in 2024 as well.
Taking a jibe at the BJP, Abdullah said that “everything the BJP had to do to win an election, they had done… Despite that, you are not having assembly elections in J&K,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah said that he did not expect Article 370 was going to be abrogated till it actually happened.
Speaking at the ABP Networks’s Idea Of India Summit, Abdullah said, “Governor had assured us that there was no plan to scrap the Constitutional status of Jammu & Kashmir. So, it was not expected.”
He also spoke on his personal experience under detention.
“My house was illegally locked from outside. They detained me saying that I was a threat to peace. Six months later, they detained me under the Public Safety Act, because I opposed separatists. I was detained for making elections in India a success by actively campaigning against Pakistan’s election boycott call,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah admitted that J&K is relatively calm now.
“It’s no secret there are no street protests… The belief that Article 370 was the cause of J&K’s problems, is not true. When It was abrogated it was said that terrorism, separatism, the seeming lack of development was due to Article 370. But we will be reaching the 5th anniversary of the abrogation. Pockets of separatists still exist. ”
He further said that nearly every week, a terror attack is reported. Areas that were free of terror, like Rajouri and Poonch, are now seeing militant attacks.
“There was no attack on minorities when I was the CM. Today, that is a regular occurrence. Kashmiri Pandits who had resettled in Kashmir with government jobs and other packages are now screaming to be allowed to leave and move back to Jammu,” Abdullah said.
