J&K won’t share water with Punjab: CM Omar Abdullah
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister slams opposition leaders Mehbooba Mufti of PDP and Sajjad Lone of PC for playing politics over job reservation rules.
Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday strongly opposed the flow of water from the three western rivers of the Indus system in Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab, reminding the neighbouring state of how it had “maltreated” J&K for years together.
On the 113-km canal proposed for redirecting surplus water from the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, the three western rivers of the system, to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, Abdullah said, “I will never allow this. Let’s use our water for ourselves first. There is a drought-like situation in Jammu. Why should I send water to Punjab? Punjab already had water (of three eastern rivers) under the Indus Water Treaty. Did they give us water when we needed it?”
“We were in dire straits then. They kept us waiting for years on the Ujh multipurpose and Shahpur Kandi barrage projects. After years, some work was done on the Shahpur Kandi barrage. This water (of the three western rivers) is for us. We will use it for ourselves and then think about others.”
Asked how Jammu and Kashmir was going to use the western river waters, he said that the government would restart the Tulbul navigation project and divert the Chenab water from Akhnoor to Jammu city.
After the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that left 26 people dead and scores injured, India has kept in abeyance the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 with Pakistan. Under the treaty, brokered by the World Bank, the water from the six rivers of the system were divided between the two countries. The eastern rivers of the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej were given to India and the western rivers of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab were given to Pakistan, with India permitted limited, non-consumptive use of the latter.
‘Oppn playing politics on quota’
The chief minister minced no words in criticizing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the People’s Conference for playing politics over the reservation rules for jobs.
“PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and PC president Sajjad Lone never raised the issue of reservation in recruitment when they were close to the government and had the opportunity. We were not even in the government then,” he said.
Following protests against the reservation rules in December last year, the Omar Abdullah government constituted a cabinet sub committee (CSC), led by education minister Sakina Itoo. The cabinet on Wednesday discussed the CSC report before referring it to the law department for examination. The move has invited criticism by opposition parties.
“When Mehbooba Mufti needed votes, she strictly banned her party members from even talking about reservation. When contesting elections from Anantnag and needing votes from Rajouri and Poonch, why didn’t she talk about reservation? Sajjad Lone was close to the government for five years when all this was happening. We were evicted from our government houses, and our security was reduced, while he was sitting in a government house. Why didn’t he talk about reservation then?” the CM said.
Abdullah said that his government had submitted the reservation report within six months, and this was the first time such progress had been made. “If I had to waste time, I would have given six more months to the sub-committee. What would they have done then? Did they have any way to force me to complete this report in six months? The cabinet has accepted the sub-committee’s report and sent it to the law department for its comments,” he said.
The existing reservation policy, formulated post abrogation of Article 370, provides only 30% vacancies for general candidates, who account for 70% of the population in Jammu and Kashmir. Before 2019, J&K had 8% reservation for Scheduled Castes, 10% for Scheduled Tribes, 4% for other backward classes (OBCs), 4% for residents of areas along the line of actual control/international border, 10% for residents of backward area (RBA) and 10% for economically weaker sections (EWS).
However, post Article 370, the BJP government introduced new reservation rules allocating 20% reservation to STs, 8% to SCs, 10% to RBA, 8% to OBCs, 4% to ALC/international border residents, 10% to EWS and 10% to children of defence personnel, sportspersons, people with disabilities, etc.
400 evacuated from Iran
On the rising tension in West Asia, Abdullah questioned Israel’s actions on Iran and expressed concern for the safety of stranded Indian students. “What has Iran done that Israel has targeted it? It was said a few months back that Iran does not have any nuclear programme, so why is it now being targeted? Our students are also stranded there, 400 have been taken to safe places, while 1,600 is the total number of people stranded from J&K,” Abdullah said.
Asked whether the National Conference would move the Supreme Court for the restoration of statehood, Abdullah said, “Statehood, we are waiting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise on statehood.”
Strengthening public outreach
The chief minister inaugurated a Rabitta office in Jammu, aimed at strengthening public outreach and grievance redressal. According to Abdullah, the move followed the successful functioning of the party’s Kashmir Rabitta office. “We have opened the Rabitta office in Jammu as our Kashmir Rabitta office is doing very well. Officers will be here. Online and offline, people can give their representation. We will try to get the work done in less time,” he added.
