Srinagar, July 15: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said the National Conference will go ahead with proposed July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar regardless of whether permission is granted for it or not.
Speaking to reporters here after offering condolences on the demise of senior National Conference leader and his uncle, Dr Mustafa Kamal, Omar said the party was still awaiting permission for the protest but would not alter its plan.
“We have not yet been given permission. We have been kept hanging. I had said on July 11 that we know how to be patient. We will wait, but an alternative plan will also be kept ready,” he said.
The Chief Minister said he had already instructed party leaders to proceed as scheduled. “I have told my party people that we will go to Delhi on July 19, come what may,” he said. Click here to watch video
“We will go there, sit and decide what needs to be done, he added.
Omar made it clear that Kamal’s death would not affect the party’s protest programme. “There will be no change in the July 20 programme due to the death of Mustafa Kamal,” he said.
“His health deteriorated on July 11, and doctors had said he would not survive beyond that day.”
The Chief Minister recalled that despite Kamal’s critical condition, NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah had decided not to cancel the party’s July 12 programme in Jammu.
“When we did not cancel the July 12 programme, there is no question of changing the July 20 programme,” he said.
The NC has invited INDIA bloc constituents and several non-NDA parties to join the protest at Jantar Mantar on July 20. However, there has been no indication so far whether the Congress and other major opposition parties will participate.
Paying tribute to his uncle, Omar described Kamal as a leader who carved out his own identity through public service and lifelong dedication to the poor.
“For the National Conference and for our family, this is a tough time,” he said. “Mustafa Kamal was my father’s younger brother, but apart from that, he had his own stature.”
