SRINAGAR — People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone on Saturday hit out at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for linking statehood to law and order in Jammu and Kashmir, and asserted that statehood was the right of the people of the Union territory.
“Who is he (Omar Abdullah) to say ‘take it back’? Statehood is our right, whether there is National Conference or not. What does it mean to take it back? Why take it back? It is our right. We are not seeking statehood for law and order… We even have (Article) 370. What is this take it back? It was a childish statement,” Lone told reporters here.
The People’s Conference MLA from Handwara was responding to a question on Chief Minister Abdullah’s statement on Friday that incidents like the Pahalgam attack or the Delhi blast will not take place (in J-K) when statehood is restored to Jammu and Kashmir, as the responsibility for security will rest with the elected government.
“If such attacks take place again, you can take back the statehood through Parliament,” Abdullah said at the end of a two-day working committee meeting of the National Conference (NC).
The People’s Conference chief also claimed that most killings in Kashmir took place under the NC regime.
“As for what he (Abdullah) said, that nothing happened during their time, most killings took place during their rule. The Public Safety Act (PSA) was used the most during their time. They brought the PSA. They should not say this. If the NC is made a reference point, that is a problem. But, statehood is our right,” he said.
Lone also asked if there were no law and order problems in the other states of the country.
“Are there no other problems? It (statehood) was not taken back because we did not know how to manage law and order; it was taken away to humiliate Kashmiris. So, let us not give it a different colour,” Lone said.
On Abdullah blaming Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for demolition drives in the Union territory, Lone said that “governments do not run like this”.
“It is like a marriage has taken place, a child is born, but no one is taking responsibility as to whose child it is. I don’t know what is happening, but someone should take responsibility.
“Governments don’t run like this – you give a statement saying no, and someone else also says no… After all, if demolition has happened, there must be a written order for it,” Lone said. — (PTI)