Srinagar: Former J&K Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Monday said a legal challenge to the Centre's decision to reinstate Article 370 has been mounted by his party and he believes that the abrogated special status to Jammu and Kashmir will be restored, amid criticism from other political parties that NC was keeping the people of the valley 'in the dark'.
"How are we keeping the people in the dark? We are only saying that we will peacefully fight for its restoration. We will fight for it under the ambit of the Constitution, and legally as well," Omar said.
Some people, he said, wanted the party to "vitiate the atmosphere so that they get an excuse to target us more". "NC has mounted a legal challenge to the Centre's decision of August 5, 2019, when it ended the special status of J and K under Article 370 of the Constitution," he added.
Omar said that his party will not lose calm and will fight in the "right way". "God willing, and this is what my heart says, we will succeed in this fight," he said, receiving applause from the party delegates. He was addressing the party's delegate session in Srinagar where his father, Farooq Abdullah, was re-elected unopposed as the NC president.
Telling his partymen that there was no need to worry, the NC vice president said, "We will not kneel or beg but seek the rights of the people of J&K. We will not beg them for security or a bungalow, nor a vehicle or something else. We are only seeking the dignity of J&K, its prosperity, and its identity. God willing, the day is not far when we will succeed in this fight as well and then present ourselves before the people," he added.
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The former CM said his party had fought many political battles but he was seeing "this kind of a battle for the first time". He said it was one thing if the party's fight was against the BJP or "its B or C teams only, but the administration is also fighting us". "They are after us. They give trouble to our colleagues," he said.
"There was a time when the decision to provide security was taken on the threat perception because of militancy. Today, the decision is taken on the threat perception for the BJP rather than that of the militants. Security is provided on seeing which party is a threat to the BJP. More the threat to the BJP, the lesser the security," he said.
Abdullah said many of his senior leaders have been attacked a number of times but have lesser security now. But those who are close to the administration and to the BJP have far more security and vehicles because the BJP has no threat from them, he said. However, he added, We are not the ones to be afraid.
Those who have God and the people with them, those who have firm intentions, good intentions, and those who do not keep the people in dark, they do not need to fear anything. God willing, we will take this state out of this tribulation, he said. Abdullah said if anyone wants to see the power of the NC, then they should see this programme.
A sarkari jalsa' is easy where vehicles, microphones, stage, food are provided by the government. Those raising slogans are also sarkari some of them village-level workers or something else. The government issues orders to its employees to attend the rally, he said, apparently referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's rally in Baramulla in October.
Today, no one here is a government employee, no government vehicle has been provided, no money has been given, he said. Referring to the recent public meeting of the Apni Party led by Altaf Bukhari, the former J-K chief minister said an event like this can be arranged by spending money.
We have seen such rallies where crores of rupees were spent, but the gates were locked before the speech so that the people do not go away, he said, without taking any names. Today's meeting is proof of the love you have for the party. God is witness that the party has not provided a single penny for any vehicle. If the people came here, they came because of their love. Fortunate is the party which has dedicated workers like you who left everything else and reached here on their own expenses to make this (programme) a success.
God should help us to come up to your expectations and take out J-K from this morass and make it a prosperous J-K -- the dream of which we all see, he said. Quipping over his father's energy levels, Abdullah said he (Farooq) is elder to me, he is my father. But, sometimes, I think I am older than him. He (Farooq) exerts more than me and I can tell you that today's programme has lent glucose (energy) of three years to him, the NC vice president said. (Agency inputs)
