The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday boycotted the regional Local Support Day celebrations, sparking a war of words between the Omar Abdullah-led government and the Lieutenant Governor.
The ruling coalition, which includes the National Congress and the Congress, has announced that they will not attend the event in Srinagar, saying they do not see Jammu and Kashmir as a Union Territory.
Responding to the government’s decision, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha criticized the National Congress and the Congress, accusing them of being “double players” for taking the oath under the Constitution but boycotting the official celebration.
“I see that those who take oath as a member of Parliament of the Union Territory and often refer to the Constitution of India (are not here). The basic fact is that UT is today. When it will be made a state, and we want it to be a state, we will also celebrate the foundation day of statehood.
The previous status of Jammu and Kashmir was reorganized as a Union Territory in 2019 following the abrogation of Article 370, which revoked the state’s special status.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha described the past five years as “an era of peace, prosperity, and development”.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that Jammu and Kashmir will not remain a Union for long, promising to “restore its dignity”.
“We will get our citizenship,” he stressed, adding that although his government will work to fulfill the needs of the people with electricity, roads, water and employment, “if we cannot live with dignity and there is no respect for our identity.” , then all these things are in vain.”
Congress State President Tariq Hameed Karra also echoed Abdullah’s words, saying, “J&K, any sensitive person who understands the difference between a Union Territory and a state will never celebrate this day. Congress has never recognized J&K as a Union Territory in our hearts, and we continue to fight for nationalism”.
Several leaders, including PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, People’s Congress leader Sajad Gani Lone, and CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, also boycotted the event.
Mufti called Foundation Day a “dark day” for Jammu and Kashmir, saying it symbolized “disenfranchisement, not development”.
“What happened in J&K is unprecedented. I want to tell the LG that, for the people of J&K and especially the PDP, today is a dark day, and it will remain so until the special rights of J&K are restored,” Mufti told reporters. in Pulwama.
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