J&K CM Omar meets Shah, takes up statehood, law and order issues
Omar also took up the matter of restoration of statehood with Shah; on August 5, 2019, the Centre abrogated Article 370 which granted special status to J&K and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two UTs -- J&K and Ladakh
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Monday called on Union home minister Amit Shah and discussed various issues related to law and order in the Union territory and changes in industrial and tourism policies to give a boost to these two sectors.
He also took up the matter of restoration of statehood. On August 5, 2019, the Centre abrogated Article 370 which granted special status to J&K and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two UTs -- J&K and Ladakh.
During the meeting, which lasted 30 minutes, officials said the chief minister briefed Shah about the situation in J&K after the two recent incidents -- the death of a 25-year-old man by suicide in Kathua in Jammu and shooting of a truck driver by army after he did not stop at a checkpoint in Sopore in north Kashmir.
After these incidents that took place on February 4 and 5, the CM had said that incidents like these ‘risk alienating the very people who we need to carry with us on the road to complete normalcy’.
“I have taken up these incidents with the Union government & insisted that both incidents are inquired into in a time bound, transparent manner. The government in J&K will also order its own inquiries,” Abdullah had said in a post on X.
During the meeting on Monday, Omar is believed to have conveyed to the home minister the need for taking people of the UT into confidence and that as the public representative of the people, his government should have a say in maintaining the law and order, the officials said.
Abdullah said that the last stages of militancy won’t be succeeded in vacuum, according to the officials. The meeting came a week after Shah chaired two back-to-back meetings in two days where the security situation of J&K was discussed.
“The chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir shri @OmarAbdullah, called on Union home minister and minister of cooperation shri @AmitShah,” Shah’s office wrote on X.
During Monday’s meeting, the officials said Abdullah also apprised the home minister about the business rules which are likely to be vetted by the MHA.
Since the erstwhile state was downgraded into two UTs in 2019, the law and order has been under the direct control of the central government.
Omar also discussed some changes in the industrial and tourism policies in order to incentivise manufacturing sector and bring more tourists.