Urges PM to ensure swift restoration of Statehood
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 3: National Conference president and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah today accused Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha of sitting on Government files and obstructing the implementation of business rules.
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He also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure swift restoration of Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
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“He (LG) is sitting on the files. How many times will I tell him? Scores of files are with him and they are not moving. I told him one day that you have demoted Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences. He said, ‘No, no, it has got its autonomy.’ It was a complete lie,” Farooq told reporters here as the Darbar Move offices reopened here today after four years.
Responding to a question from reporters about the Chief Minister and the LG criticizing each other, he said, “I hope those who are sitting on the files will send them back. Business rules must be implemented, shouldn’t they?”
“This is the people’s Government. The people have voted for this Government. The rules must be fully implemented,” he added.
Asked if the LG was preventing the elected Government from performing its duties, Farooq said it was not about stopping work but about interfering.
“It is the way he is dealing with things. He is delaying them, that is all he does. He must stop doing it. He should be a friend of the people and the Government. That’s what he is sitting there for,” the NC president said.
On Statehood restoration, Farooq expressed optimism and appealed to the Prime Minister to pay attention to Jammu and Kashmir’s problems.
“God willing, that too will happen. It will happen soon,” he said.
“I request the Prime Minister to be benevolent on Jammu and Kashmir so that its difficulties are removed. We request him to give special attention to the Statehood matter and ensure that it is restored as soon as possible,” he added.
Farooq added that the Secretariat’s arrival would benefit Jammu and urged people to unite for the region’s development.
“I hope Jammu will get the greatest benefit from it,” he asserted.
Farooq said “those who wanted to divide Jammu and Kashmir have failed” and asserted that the Union Territory stands united and must collectively move towards development.
Taking a dig at the BJP, he said that those politicizing the issue should “leave politics” and instead focus on the welfare of the people and the development of the Union Territory.
Dr Abdullah said Jammu, too, will progress and hoped it would gain “maximum benefit” from the arrival of the Secretariat.
“This (erstwhile) State has to rise again. It has come out of much destruction, including wars, and we must now rebuild it together and take it towards development,” he said.
Farooq congratulated the Chamber of Commerce and the people for welcoming the Darbar move.
“I express my gratitude to every person from Jammu who supported this step,” he said.
Calling the transition a “big step” initiated by Maharaja Hari Singh, Farooq said the move reflected unity among the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“It meant that people of Jammu and Kashmir considered themselves one — irrespective of language or religion, they belonged to one land,” he said.
On the issue of fulfilment of public demands, Abdullah said the long-pending ‘Darbar Move’ demand has been met and expressed confidence that other demands will also be fulfilled “gradually within the next four years”.
Speaking about the upcoming Assembly by-polls in Jammu and Kashmir scheduled for November 11, the NC president said, “Everyone hopes that the elections will be good, and we too hope that they will be better for us. Our hopes are positive.”
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