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| Anti-Jammu stance | | NC in its true colour | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 20: The National Conference (NC), which suffered the worst-ever defeat in the 2014 Assembly elections both in Kashmir province and Jammu Province, has, it seems, decided to close down its unpopular political shop in Jammu province. The NC had won 15 seats out of 87 Assembly seats from J&K state. How else should one describe the Thursday speech of NC working president and former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the floor of the Assembly?
Speaking on the Motion of Thanks on the Governor's Address, Omar Abdullah, among other things, talked about the refugees from West Pakistan and delimitation of Assembly seats. He, in fact, opposed the idea of granting citizenship rights to the refugees from West Pakistan and also told the Assembly that the PDP-BJP coalition government could not set up delimitation commission for delimiting the constituencies de novo in order to give more representation to the people of Jammu province in the Assembly.
"On the issue of West Pakistan refugees, we want to seek answers from you (state government)," Omar Abdullah said. He also asked: "Are you proposing to give them government jobs? If it is so, then it means you want to make them state subjects? We want to hear it from you in your reply". "What other issues they have that you want to resolve?" he further asked and added "they have only issue that is state subject rights".
The meaning of what Omar Abdullah said was absolutely clear: He told the state government that it couldn't empower the hapless refugees from West Pakistan, who have been struggling since 1947 to obtain a status of state subjects so that they could also lead a dignified life as other Indians. How inhuman the former Chief Minister has turned! It is obvious that he made these statements to pander to the communal and separatist constituency in the Valley hoping that that his senseless opposition to the genuine cause of the refugees from West Pakistan would help him restore the space he and his party have lost to the PDP.
On the issues of delimitation of Assembly seats to give Jammu region more seats under it, Omar Abdullah referred to the Governor's Address and said: "When you say as required by law, the matter is finished. It is closed till 2026. It is face saving for BJP so that they will go to their constituencies and say we will have delimitation". He didn't say that his party would cooperate with the state government in case it moved an amendment bill seeking withdrawal of the February 2002 that undemocratic and unconstitutional amendment that was introduced by his father's government to scuttle the age-old demand in Jammu for a proper representation in the Assembly based on land area, nature of terrain, accessibility, accessibility and population/voters' strength. He only reminded the PDP-BJP coalition government that the existing law doesn't permit the concerned authorities to appoint a delimitation commission. In other words, he told the Assembly that his party will oppose tooth and nail any move that is aimed at delimiting afresh the Assembly segments and meeting the aspirations of the people of Jammu province, who hold inadequate representation in the Assembly responsible for their all round degeneration and neglect.
The stand Omar Abdullah took on the demands in Jammu for citizenship rights for the refugees from West Pakistan and delimitation of constituencies only shows that the NC has turned not only anti-refugees but also anti-Jammu. He and his party will have to pay a very heavy price for their bias against Jammu in the coming days. As for the ruling coalition, it needs to go ahead and fulfill the promises it made to the people of Jammu province and the refugees in its "Agenda of Alliance". |
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