Congress puts Omar government on notice

Worried over the unending cycle of violence in Kashmir, the Congress has put the Omar Abdullah government on notice and is closely monitoring the emerging situation in the strife-torn valley.

Worried over the unending cycle of violence in Kashmir, the Congress has put the Omar Abdullah government on notice and is closely monitoring the emerging situation in the strife-torn valley. The party is also upset over the "handling of the situation" by the state government, which it said, has "failed" in breaking the current cycle of violence.

HT Image

A senior Congress functionary pointed out that the state administration has also "failed in containing the influence of separatists whose writ runs large" across the Kashmir valley.

"The separatists are calling the shots. They are virtually running a parallel administration. It's a matter of serious concern," he said.

Another senior leader said the state government appeared to be a "helpless spectator to the games" played by the separatist outfits.

He said the Hurriyat Conference faction, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, comes out with a weekly "calendar of protests" which is not only followed by the general public but the government employees as well.

According to the calendar, only Saturdays and Sundays are marked as working days and on the remaining days the people are advised to come out on streets and protest.

But, the Congress also does not want to disturb the present arrangement and has decided to continue supporting chief minister Omar Abdullah.

But this assurance has come with a condition that Omar should strengthen the governance at all levels. "The administration is invisible and it has to be galvanised to meet the challenge. He should also take all steps to check corruption and inefficiency in administration," said another leader.

On its part, the party has also given its go ahead to the chief minister to carry out a reshuffle in the government. The exercise will see him dropping "tainted ministers" irrespective whether they belong to his National Conference or the Congress. "But the timing of the cabinet reshuffle has to be decided by him," the leader said.