NEW DELHI, Sept 28: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah openly accused the Centre Govt of betraying both Ladakh and J&K by failing to fulfil its promises and deepening mistrust through delays in restoring Statehood.
Speaking at the launch of senior journalist and author Harinder Baweja’s latest book, “They Will Shoot You, Madam: My life through conflict”, Omar Abdullah said the Government had failed to follow through on its own roadmap, first for Jammu and Kashmir and now for Ladakh, alleging that the latter was misled with “impossible” assurances" & when you wanted Ladakh to participate in Hill Council elections, you promised them the Sixth Schedule. Everyone knew that giving the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh was nearly impossible.
Omar also criticised the sudden shift in the stance towards Ladakhi leaders, especially climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who being a gentleman who, until yesterday, was praising the Prime Minister as an environmental warrior and thanking him profusely for 2019 for fulfilling the dreams of Ladakhis by giving UT status & nobody found fault with him then.
But, one fine morning, suddenly, you find a Pakistani connection, whereas two days ago, there was none & where did it come from?” he questioned?
On Jammu and Kashmir’s demand for restoring statehood, Abdullah accused the central government of failing to honour its own commitments & added that You told us it was a three-stage process, first delimitation, then elections, and finally statehood.
But, the first two have been completed, whereas the third has gone nowhere & Omar Abdullah cautioned that the trust deficit was eroding public faith, despite the unprecedented participation of Jammu and Kashmir residents in recent polls both the Parliament and Assembly.
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