NC pays tributes to party founder Sheikh Abdullah on birth anniversary
As the elected government of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday observed the birth anniversary of National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, chief minister Omar Abdullah said that they will again raise the issue of J&K’s statehood with the Prime Minister and the Home minister.
As the elected government of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday observed the birth anniversary of National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, chief minister Omar Abdullah said that they will again raise the issue of J&K’s statehood with the Prime Minister and the Home minister as the central leadership’s engagements in Maharashtra and Jharkhand ended.
Omar along with NC president Farooq Abdullah and other senior leaders visited Naseembagh and paid floral tributes at former chief minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s mausoleum on his 119th birth anniversary. Sheikh Abdullah was the father of Farooq and the grandfather of Omar, and the first elected prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
An official spokesperson through the information department paid tributes to former chief minister Sheikh Abdullah calling him a ‘towering figure in the history of Jammu and Kashmir’ and said: “Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah is remembered for his visionary leadership and his enduring contributions to Jammu and Kashmir.”
In December 2019, four months after the revocation of J&K’s special status and bifurcating it into two union territories, the Jammu and Kashmir UT government had done away with July 13 (Martyrs Day) and December 5 (Sheikh’s birth anniversary) as official holidays and added October 26 - the day the region had acceded to Union of India in 1947- to the list.
Omar, while talking to the media after participating in the annual day of Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar, said that they would bring back ‘the holidays’ onto the list but after the ‘bigger fight’ for statehood.
“There will again be a holiday (on Sheikh Abdullah’s birth anniversary). I am also aware of some other dates as well. But for now, we have to fight a bigger fight. And that fight is to get statehood back to Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
He reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his promise of statehood made to the people of J&K during parliament as well as assembly elections. “In both these elections people participated enthusiastically and made it successful with the hope that the promises made to them, particularly the return of statehood, should be fulfilled. As the PM and home minister were busy with Maharashtra and Jharkhand (elections) and they have become free from there, now there will again be talks with them so that J&K gets statehood as early as possible,” he said.
Omar also lashed out at the way “Muslim mosques and shrines were being targeted in the country” saying, “We don’t seek appeasement but don’t victimise us under the garb of non-appeasement”.
Omar said that people of every faith or no-faith are free to live in the country.
Attack on Sukhbir needs to be probed
Omar also expressed concern over the attack on Sukhbir Singh Badal in Punjab.
“I spoke to Sukhbir yesterday after the attack on him. I expressed our gratitude to the almighty that he survived the attack. We spoke about the situation. It is a matter of concern that if in broad daylight a former deputy chief minister, a Z-plus category protectee, can be attacked like this , obviously this needs to be looked at,” he said.
Omar said that such attacks shouldn’t happen in future. “Why and how does this happen and ensure this doesn’t happen in future. Let’s not forget, not long ago, Punjab went through a very difficult phase in the 1980s and early 1990s, and God forbid, we see something like that again,” he said.
SKIMS autonomy needs to be restored
Omar also made it a point to rake up the issue of the autonomy of Kashmir’s premier health institution, SKIMS in Srinagar on its 42nd annual day. The SKIMS was founded by NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1978 and was functioning as an autonomous institution till February 2023.
“The 42nd annual day of SKIMS is being celebrated today. This hospital was established so that people of Jammu and Kashmir need not go to AIIMS or PGI for their treatments. The institute has served the people of J&K a lot,” he said after attending the function.
In 2023 under LG administration, the hospital was divested of its autonomy after the general administration department of J&K government informed that it has been brought under the control of the health and medical education department. The taking away of SKIMS autonomy had caused an upheaval among the medical fraternity as well as political leaders.
Omar said that the institute’s engineering wing also needs to be restarted. “The procurements through medical supplies corporation need to be made time bound. Like I said today that whatever help the SKIMS needs from us, so that more and more patients can get treatment here rather than needing to go to Delhi, Mumbai or Chandigarh, will be granted,” he said.
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