'Will Pahalgam killers, their masters decide?': J&K CM Omar Abdullah on restoration of statehood

SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday announced that he and his colleagues would launch a door-to-door signature campaign for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and hand over the document to the Centre and the Supreme Court before the next hearing in the apex court. Time has come that we have to move out from our offices and take our voices to the doors where these decisions are being taken, Omar said in his Independence Day address at Bakshi Stadium, Srinagar. It was the first Independence Day address in the Union Territory by an elected Chief Minister since Jammu and Kashmir was downgraded from a state to a union territory. Abdullahs remarks came a day after a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai observed that the ground situation in the region must be weighed before restoring its statehood, stressing that incidents like Pahalgam could not be ignored. The Chief Minister expressed disappointment over the remarks, terming the reference to Pahalgam unfortunate. Will the killers of Pahalgam and their masters in the neighbouring country (Pakistan) decide whether we will be a state? Every time we are close to statehood, they will do something to sabotage it. Is this fair? Why are we being punished for a crime in which we had no role? he said. Pakistani terrorists allegedly killed 26 civilians, mostly tourists, in the Baisaran meadow in south Kashmirs Pahalgam on April 22. My question is if J&K is again to become a state, can our government not make such a decision? And for J&K again becoming a state, will this decision not be taken by the Supreme Court? For J&K to again have statehood, would it be decided by killers who perpetrated the Pahalgam attack or will it be decided by our neighbouring country, which is behind the militancy? Omar asked. Omar becomes first elected CM to unfurl tricolour on I-Day in J&K UT, says no major announcement came from Delhi He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir were being punished for a crime in which they had no part. In Op Sindoor, our military punished the neighbouring country. But we are also being punished for the Pahalgam attack. J&K people, who raised their voice against the attack and staged protests against it, are being punished for the attack, he said. Can anybody deny that people of J&K on their own came out to protest and condemned the Pahalgam attack? From Kathua to Kupwara, J&K people came out to condemn the attack. But despite that, unfortunately, the Pahalgam attack is being used to deny us statehood, he added. Abdullah said he and his colleagues would not sit idle during the eight weeks given by the Supreme Court to the Centre to respond to the plea on statehood. From today, we will use these eight weeks to go door to door in all 90 assembly segments for a signature campaign on the restoration of statehood. If people are not ready to sign the document, I will accept defeat, he said, adding, My heart says that in eight weeks, we will collect lakhs of signatures and we will hand the signature campaign document to the Centre and the Supreme Court judges. He said this was not about personal or political gain. This is not about my family, my government, my cabinet but it is about J&K people. Is it a crime to get your rights? he asked. Till now, we were making use of letters, resolutions and meetings to put our point across. Now we will have to take these voices from our offices to the doors where these decisions are taken, Abdullah said, asserting that he was confident of achieving the goal of getting signatures in support of the demand for statehood.