NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has accused the Centre of betraying both Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir by failing to fulfil its promises and deepening mistrust through delays in restoring statehood.
Speaking at the launch of senior journalist and author Harinder Baweja's latest book, They Will Shoot You, Madam: My Life Through Conflict, on Sunday, Abdullah said the government had failed to follow through on its own roadmap, first for Jammu and Kashmir and now for Ladakh, alleging that the latter was misled with “impossible” assurances.
“When you wanted them (Ladakh) to participate in Hill Council elections, you promised them the Sixth Schedule. Everyone knew that giving the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh was nearly impossible. A region that shares frontiers with China on one side and Pakistan on the other requires a sizeable defence presence, which the Sixth Schedule makes impossible. Yet, you made promises to get electoral participation,” he stated.
The 55-year-old also criticised the sudden shift in stance towards Ladakhi leaders, especially climate activist Sonam Wangchuk.
“A gentleman who, until yesterday, was praising the Prime Minister as an environmental warrior and thanking him profusely in 2019 for fulfilling the dreams of Ladakhis by giving UT status… nobody found fault with him then. Today, suddenly, we find a Pakistani connection. Two days ago, there was none. Where did it come from?” he asked.
Protests in support of the demand for statehood and inclusion of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution took a violent turn on 24 September, leaving four people dead and many injured. Following the incident, Wangchuk, who has been among those leading the protest, was detained under the National Security Act (NSA).
On Jammu and Kashmir's demand for restoring statehood, Abdullah accused the central government of failing to honour its own commitments.
“You told us it was a three-stage process, first delimitation, then elections, and finally statehood. The first two have been completed, but the third has gone nowhere. And then you wonder why there is a trust deficit,” he said.
Abdullah cautioned that the trust deficit was eroding public faith, despite the unprecedented participation of Jammu and Kashmir residents in recent elections, both Parliamentary and Assembly.
He also referred to recent Supreme Court remarks on statehood, where petitioners urging the Centre to fulfil its promise of restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s status were told to consider “ground realities” such as the Pahalgam terror attack.
Abdullah said it was “deeply distressing” that the matter seemed to be tied to events across the border, asking, “Does Pakistan now decide whether J&K should have statehood? Because every time we come close to statehood, something like Pahalgam will happen and again, we will be sent back,” he said, asserting that statehood cannot be used as a “carrot” for good behaviour.
Stressing that the issue is not about Kashmir, the land, but about “Kashmiri”, the people, Abdullah said the people want to feel a genuine sense of ownership again.
“We make that small difference in the nomenclature, and you make a huge difference on the land… And they (the people) have shown it to you time and again over the last two years, three years. They want to be owned, they want to be listened to, they want to be respected,” he said.
The panel discussion was also joined by former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
They Will Shoot You, Madam, published by Roli Books, charts Baweja's journey of venturing deep into conflict zones, bringing to light stories from difficult terrains, from the bloodied streets of Punjab to the volatile battlegrounds of Jammu and Kashmir, and onwards to Pakistan and war-ravaged Afghanistan.