Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday voiced optimism about the restoration of the region’s statehood, stating that the “appropriate time has come.”
Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a long-delayed bridge in Pulwama district, Abdullah expressed hope that the central government would soon fulfil its promise to reinstate statehood.
“We think the appropriate time has come, six months have passed since the assembly elections. (Union Home Minister Amit) Shah came here, I had a separate meeting with him, a good one … I am still hopeful that J&K will soon get its statehood back,” he said.
CM Omar Abdullah also addressed opposition criticism regarding the Waqf Amendment Act, explaining why an adjournment motion on the matter was not admitted in the assembly.
“The Speaker made everything clear on the last day. Perhaps, the mistake by the members was that they brought an adjournment motion. An adjournment motion is only brought to discuss the works of the J&K government because the government has to respond. Tell me, had that adjournment motion been accepted, how would we have responded as the Waqf Bill was not brought by us? It was passed by the Centre in Parliament,” he clarified.
Omar Abdullah suggested that a resolution under different rules might have been more appropriate but noted that such opportunities had now passed.
Commenting on infrastructure development, CM Omar Abdullah inaugurated a bridge connecting Chrar-e-Sharief to south Kashmir, which had taken 11 years to rebuild after being washed away in the 2014 floods. “It is unfortunate that this took a long time to rebuild.
This bridge was washed away in 2014 floods and it has taken 11 years to rebuild it. I think this bridge was destined to be thrown open by us only,” he remarked. The bridge is expected to play a crucial role in improving connectivity between south Kashmir and Chrar-e-Sharief.
