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Don't rely on verbal assurances from Centre: Omar Abdullah cautions Ladakh leaders
Omar Abdullah urged Ladakh's leadership to seek written and signed assurances from the Centre on land and job safeguards. Citing Jammu and Kashmir's unfulfilled statehood promise, he said verbal commitments should not be trusted.
Amid escalating tensions in Leh and Kargil, J&K CM Omar Abdullah cautioned Ladakh's leadership against relying on verbal assurances from the Centre, citing J&K's experience with the unfulfilled promise of restoring statehood after the Assembly elections.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, amid escalating tensions in Leh and Kargil, on Wednesday advised the leadership in Ladakh not to rely on verbal assurances from the Centre over their demand for constitutional safeguards for land and jobs, saying Jammu and Kashmir had itself been a victim of such promises.
Abdullah said the concerns of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir were different, but maintained that the leadership in Ladakh should seek any commitment from the Centre in writing and through a formal process.
"Ladakh has its own issues, our issues are separate. However, as a friend and a well-wisher, I can only advise the leadership of Ladakh not to rely on any verbal assurances from the central government unless they provide those in writing and officially signed," Abdullah, who was in Pulwama to review the progress of development projects, told reporters.
The Chief Minister cited the Centre's earlier assurance on restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir after the Assembly elections, saying the promise had not yet materialised.
"We ourselves have been victims of this. We too were given verbal assurances that statehood would be restored immediately after the (Assembly) election. Almost two years have passed since and that promise has not materialised,” Abdullah said.
"Therefore, with folded hands, my humble request to the leaders of Ladakh and Kargil is not to trust verbal commitments from the Centre until they receive something in writing, perhaps in the form of a formal affidavit," he added.
The Chief Minister also said in terms of execution of development projects and expenditure, Pulwama was likely to rank among the top five districts of Jammu and Kashmir out of the 20.
He credited the deputy commissioner and his team for their performance and urged them to maximise the utilisation of allocated funds during the remaining two to three months of the current working season, adding that additional funds could be arranged if required after the existing budget was fully utilised.
Abdullah said development work was progressing smoothly across all constituencies in the district.
"Projects worth around Rs 100 crore in Pulwama district were either inaugurated or had their foundation stones laid on Wednesday. These include road projects, school projects, hospital works, some bridges under construction and a dairy-processing village that is being established. In almost every sector in Pulwama, visible progress is evident on the ground," he said.
Responding to a question on the strike by National Health Mission (NHM) employees, Abdullah said protesting was a democratic right but maintained that his government would hold talks on their demands only after the agitation was called off.
"My earnest request to them would be to kindly choose the path of dialogue because, ultimately, a solution will emerge only through discussion. We cannot hold talks while protests are ongoing. If attempts are made to extract demands under the pressure of agitation, it sets a precedent where everyone else will take to the streets in protest. Therefore, as long as an agitation continues, we will not be able to engage in dialogue," he added.
While speaking to the reporters, the Chief Minister also declined to respond to Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma's remarks about the short duration of the Assembly.
"I will only respond to one statement per month from the leader of opposition. He makes statements daily and I do not have enough free time to reply to him on an everyday basis. I responded to one yesterday, the next response will come in October," he said.
