SRINAGAR: National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Wednesday that the police locked the gates of his house in Srinagar and escorted him to his office, treating him like a “criminal”, to prevent him from visiting the Sunderbani area of Rajouri district for a party function.
Later, National Conference Vice President addressed the gathering in Sunderbani and Kalakote via telephone and chaired the meeting.
In his brief telephonic address, Omar said that NC has always upheld brotherhood and unity in the region contrary to BJP which has always sought to divide people on religious, regional and linguistic lines.
“We would continue to strive for peace, development and prosperity. No matter how hard BJP tries, we will continue with our humble efforts to bridge divides, forge unity and work for progress,” he said.
He further added, “They claim India to be the mother of democracy. If it’s so then why aren’t we allowed to step out from our residences and interact with people. I welcome the grant of ST status to Paharis, but this should not affect the rights of Gujjars and Bakarwals.The government is silent on this issue. Even the bill passed in Parliament does not mention how it would be implemented. Our repeated requests to the government as to how they will implement the reservation, remains unanswered.”
The convention was addressed by party’s Provincial President Rattan Lal Gupta, Senior leader Javed Rana, YNC Provincial President Ajaz Jan, DDC Chairperson Naseem Liaqat and Constituency charge Yashu Vardhan Singh.
The leaders in their address denounced the administration’s measure of stopping Omar Abdullah and said there is no democracy in J&K as they are not being allowed to speak and not to express their views. They said that all development works initiated by the NC-led government remain halted. The leaders expressed concern over government action of forcibly encroaching on land from poor people. They demanded that the Forest Act should be implemented in JK.
This was the very successful & totally peaceful public meeting that the BJP conspired to stop me from attending. They used the police to prevent me from traveling to Sunderbani. The BJP can run but it can’t hide from reality. The truth is they don’t have the guts to face the… pic.twitter.com/JJSql6znxS
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 7, 2024
Later in a post on X Omar wrote: “This was the very successful & peaceful public meeting that the BJP conspired to stop me from attending. They used the police to prevent me from traveling to Sunderbani. The BJP can run but it can’t hide from reality. The truth is they don’t have the guts to face the people & are finding excuses to delay assembly elections in J&K. They are the true murderers of democracy.”
