Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly has opened a door and they are working to get the statehood restored.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the barring Bharatiya Janata Party legislators, almost all MLAs supported it including the Congress.
"BJP targeted Congress in Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections. Congress became helpless and they had to dilute this a little bit but it won't make any difference," Abdullah said.
He targeted the political opponents for criticising the resolution saying, “If there was nothing in the resolution, why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah talked about it frequently.”
He said they are working to restore the statehood and once that happens, the government will take up the cases of political prisoners.
He announced that they okayed a sub-committee to review the reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir.
This was decided in the cabinet led by Omar Abdullah, which met at his residence in Jammu on Friday. The meet marked the first at Jammu.
He said that the cabinet's main decision was about setting a sub-committee comprising three cabinet ministers to revisit the reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir while acknowledging the concerns and complaints pouring in from the aspirants.
The controversial reservation policy was implemented by the LG administration last year and came under the limelight particularly after the Jammu and Kashmir Combined Competitive Examination 2023 result was declared recently.
The policy deprives the majority of general category candidates of employment and education opportunities in the government sector due to disparity in reservations.
"Our youth especially those in the open category, think that they aren't getting their rights. At the same time, those in the ambit of reservations also think that there shouldn't be any reduction in their rights," Abdullah added.
The committee has been tasked to furnish a report within a stipulated time period and will revisit the changes in J&K's reservation policy and evaluate the applicability of the Supreme Court's 50 per cent threshold for reservations.
"For the decisions coming in future, no one's rights should be snatched and justice should be done to all," he added.
Besides, Abdullah said that the verification process was ‘weaponised’ in Kashmir and it has been stopped to a larger extent now after talking with Police authorities. “Security and law and order are in the domain of the Centre. It (verification) will be eased further,” he added.
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