J&K Assembly resolution on special status not rejected: CM Abdullah

Jammu: The resolution on special status passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in its first sitting last year has not been rejected by the Central government which is a big thing, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Monday and asserted that there was no need to bring any other resolution on Article 370, which was abrogated in August 2019.The chief minister said all legislators need to work together to help the government to fulfill its priorities for public welfare.“What we have to do was done in the first (assembly) session (in November, 2024). The resolution is still holding after passed by the House. The PDP and others helped us in passing the resolution and it is still holding is a big thing,” Abdullah told reporters outside the assembly here while responding to a question that some members are planning to bring a fresh resolution to condemn abrogation of Article 370.

The 40-day Budget Session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, having a total of 22 sittings, began on Monday with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s address.The chief minister said some people were thinking that any resolution on special status will get outrightly rejected by the Central government.“The resolution was not rejected and the fact of the matter is that it is still holding so there is no need to talk further on this,” he said.The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed a resolution on November 6, asking the Centre to work out a constitutional mechanism for restoring special status of the erstwhile state.

Abdullah said the National Conference will not repeat what it had already done.“It is not like that we will repeat this thing. What we have to do was done in the first session. If we had not brought that resolution, then there was a possibility of holding discussions on it. We bought a resolution and the House passed it with majority so what is there to talk further on it,” he said.The chief minister said the House will meet on Tuesday to discuss the lieutenant governor’s address and the members are free to raise their issues in the House.

“There will a talk inside the House and not outside it. This is not the way,” he said when asked about the protest by independent MLA Khursheed Ahmed, demanding justice for the families of two persons killed in Sopore and Kathua recently as well as restoration of Article 370 and statehood.Abdullah said the government will respond to the issues, which will be raised by the members in the House.“The lieutenant governor was speaking on behalf of the government, highlighting its priorities. The members need to cooperate as we have to achieve the goal together,” he said.

The chief minister also ruled out any alliance with the BJP and said there is no scope or need for such a thing.“We both have different ideologies and there is also a difference of heaven and earth on our approach with regard to J&K,” he said. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Monday that India and Pakistan came closer to resolving the Kashmir issue during the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government and he is not expecting a return to the situation in his lifetime.During obituary references to Singh and four other former legislators on the first day of the Budget Session of the J-K Assembly which started here, Abdullah lavished praises on Singh and said he practically initiated measures for the return of displaced Kashmiri Pandits and his working groups are still relevant.

The Assembly observed a two-minute silence to pay tributes to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former minister Syed Ghulam Hussain Geelani, former Rajya Sabha MP Shamsher Singh Manhas and former MLAs Ghulam Hassan Parrey and Choudhary Piara Singh who died after the last assembly session in November.Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather moved the obituary reference after Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s address. Several members including Sham Lal Sharma (BJP), G A Mir (Congress) and M Y Tarigami (CPIM) also spoke in the House.“In the last assembly session (in Srinagar), we had a long list headed by former prime minister A B Vajpayee and now after four months, we have a short list headed by another former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who has made an immense contribution for the country,” the chief minister said.

Abdullah talked about Singh’s journey from a village, which is now in Pakistan, to becoming the Prime Minister of India and his contributions towards making India an economic power by introducing reforms especially related to private sector and social welfare measures.On J-K, “he tried to address the problem with the outside country (Pakistan). He did not make this initiative but inherited it as the start was made by Vajpayee and (then Pakistan president Gen Pervez) Musharraf. He would have stopped the initiative after taking over as the prime minister (in 2004), but he was well aware that the initiative taken by Vajpayee is a big responsibility to carry forward,” the chief minister said.

Singh made sincere efforts despite the deteriorating situation, he said, in an apparent reference to terror incidents.“May I say that both the countries have come closer to resolving this (Kashmir) problem during that period and I do not see a return to the situation in my lifetime,” Abdullah said.He said when the situation deteriorated in 2010, Singh tried to heal the wounds by setting up working groups, whether related to politics or meant to improve governance, and they are still relevant.Singh had constituted five working groups on Jammu and Kashmir to grab the initiative for ushering in a phase of development by creating conditions of permanent peace in the state.

Referring to displaced Kashmiri Pandits, Abdullah said everyone is talking about the community but practical steps for their welfare were taken by the Singh-led government.“He introduced job reservation for the community in Kashmir and we persuaded them. There was no such effort from anyone else,” he said, adding he provided relief to Pandits by setting up Jagti township in Jammu for the community members who were living in tents.Abdullah said the Lt Governor talked about improved infrastructure of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. He said it was Singh who gifted this four-lane project to J-K.

The chief minister also spoke about the railway project to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country and said, “We are waiting for the Prime Minister to inaugurate the service and I hope this will happen within days.”Abdullah said he had accompanied the former prime minister to inaugurate the Banihal section of the rail link.Work on the Chenab bridge, the highest railway bridge in the world, started during his time but “he, unfortunately, is not among us today to travel on the bridge. At least, he will have the satisfaction that the work started by him was completed by the present dispensation”, Abdullah said.

He said Singh was the most misunderstood leader and was right in saying that history would judge him more kindly.Praising Singh’s “down to earth” personality, the chief minister said when the situation deteriorated in Kashmir in 2016, he was not at the helm but was there for the people to listen to them.Remembering an instance during his previous stint as chief minister, Abdullah said he was also prompt in apologising when something had gone wrong from his side.“I had written a letter to him (Singh) and he was told that I had leaked the contents during an interview which I clarified after he telephoned me. As soon as he realised the mistake, he promptly telephoned and said sorry.”Earlier, Tarigami while paying tributes to the leaders said the question remains as to how to improve relations between India and Pakistan so that both countries can live in peace.BJP’s Sharma said the roadmap for India’s economy was laid by Singh, making it possible for the country to become the fifth biggest economy in the world.