Kick-starting campaigning in Beerwah Assembly Segment Thursday, NC Working President Omar Abdullah said that PDP’s role in tactically choosing to not support efforts for AFSPA revocation was in stark contrast to the surprising posturing of the party and its leaders today. Omar Abdullah also lashed out at PDP, saying that Mufti Sayeed’s self-publicized “healing touch” started with and ended with the targeted killing of those militant commanders who Dr. Farooq Abdullah’s Government had brought on the dialogue table after a successful ceasefire.Addressing a gathering of party workers and youth in Kandhama Beerwah today after being welcomed by a youth rally from Narbal to Beerwah, Omar Abdullah said that he was overwhelmed by the welcome accorded to him by the people and especially youth of Beerwah after his candidature from the constituency. “You should not be thankful to me for choosing to contest from Beerwah, rather I should be thankful to all of you for accepting me with such enthusiasm and overwhelming affection as our party’s candidate from Beerwah.
I assure the youth of Beerwah that I will leave no stone unturned to work with them and together we will script a bright economic, social and political future for Beerwah”, Omar said.Lashing out at PDP for playing petty politics on a sensitive and pro-people issue like AFSPA revocation, Omar Abdullah said that PDP during their tenure at the helm of the State Government chose to remain completely mum on AFSPA and started issuing press statements on this issue only when they were sent to the opposition benches. “Our record on efforts for AFSPA revocation is self-evident and forthright. As soon as I became the Chief Minister, I asked not only for a political solution for the political problem in the State but also unambiguously sought the revocation of AFSPA in the presence of the then Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. I spoke on the floor of the Assembly demanding the revocation of AFSPA and National Conference has never modified or altered its stand on such sensitive issues. Show me one record, one instance when PDP demanded the revocation of AFSPA while they were in power.
Not only did PDP remain silent on AFSPA revocation during their stint in the State Government but they also failed to support our efforts and demand for the revocation of the Act while they have been in the opposition. Tragically, even grief and suffering is measured in terms of political expediency by PDP and its leaders”, the NC Working President said.Omar said that Mufti Sayeed’s much touted “healing touch” started and ended on a tragic note with the targeted killings of militant commanders under the political leadership of Mufti Sayeed. “Was this Mufti’s healing touch? That he chose to go for the targeted killings of the same militant commanders who had declared a ceasefire and were brought on the dialogue table by Dr. Farooq Abdullah? And now today, Mufti has again been reminded of ‘healing touch’ after having not only conspicuously abandoning this statement but also completely abandoning its ‘self-rule’ document and slogan. Just like everything else, PDP has demonstrated how it will choose political expediency over principled stands on such issues that concern the pain and suffering of the people”, Omar Abdullah said while addressing the party workers and youth activists in Kandhama, Beerwah.
“I also wonder where PDP’s ‘dual currency’ slogan has vanished? There wasn’t a day when they pitched these slogans in the past and now – suddenly all these slogans have disappeared in thin air – as if they never existed. Has National Conference ever abandoned its principled stand on issues like restoration of Internal Autonomy and revocation of AFSPA? I am proud that we have remained steadfast on not only our ideology but also our political stands on sensitive issues and I have no doubt in my mind that the people of J&K have taken note of PDP’s wavering stands and volte faces on crucial political issues concerning the State and its future”, Omar Abdullah said.
The NC Working President said that PDP’s cannot ask for one opportunity to prove its credentials this time around since the party was afforded an engineered opportunity in 2002 – one that was squandered in a term that witnessed inaction, rampant loot and plunder and a systemic patronage to corruption. “PDP should not ideally have the audacity to speak of progress and prosperity given what they did and did not do while in the Government. They speak of power when all they did in the power sector during their tenure was to install electricity meters without adding one single power project in the State. In the last six years we have added 1,350 Megawatts of power to the State’s power portfolio and have laid edifice for the generation of thousands of more Megawatts of power. Due to these efforts not only will J&K be self-sufficient in power generation in the coming years but we will also be in a position to export power to other States”, Omar Abdullah said.
Omar said the youth of J&K would rise to the occasion and choose truth and performance of National Conference over the lies and contradictions of PDP. “I have great hope in the youth of our State and I am overwhelmed with their support to all our initiatives. We will continue to work with the youth – in Beerwah and the entire State – to continue J&K’s spirited journey of growth, youth empowerment and economic progress”, Omar said.
Omar also lashed out at PDP for giving political patronage to corruption during their tenure in the State Government. “Not only did we resurrect the State Accountability Commission (SAC) that was made defunct by PDP to protect its Ministers who were involved in corruption but we also constituted the State Vigilance Commission (SVC) to eradicate corruption from the State. The result is in front of you today. Due to our efforts, corruption has been rooted out from the State to a large extent. We chose those judges to head these corruption watchdogs who had nothing to do with us and were in no way affiliated to us or biased towards us. We asked them to hold us accountable before holding anyone else accountable and we are proud that we have come out unblemished without any charges of graft and misappropriation in our six years in power”, Omar Abdullah said.
Omar also castigated Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for playing hypocritical politics over the recent devastating floods saying that Mufti Sayeed flew in to Srinagar on one flight and flew out on the next available flight without caring to spend time in the Valley. “The State Government on my directions had kept a helicopter available for Mufti Sahab to tour the city and meet some people. I thought as a formed Chief Minister it would be only appropriate that he moves around and meets the flood victims. Tragically, Mufti Sahab chose to fly out of the flooded Valley on the very next flight after landing in Srinagar. Now he is issuing political statements on the natural calamity and how it should have been dealt with. I did everything humanly possible under the circumstances and our efforts were validated by the fact that the fatalities were restricted to a large extent and no water-borne disease or epidemic was allowed to spread in the Valley after the floods. We will have to continue our focus on flood victim rehabilitation and this critical need of the hour cannot wait till after the elections conclude”, Omar Abdullah said.
The function was thronged by thousands of youth from Beerwah who said that they would leave no stone unturned to ensure a triumphant and iconic victory of Omar Abdullah from Beerwah in the coming elections and a historic victory for National Conference in the entire State.NC General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, NC Provincial President Nasir Aslam Wani, NC leader from Beerwah Dr. Abdul Majid Mattoo, NC Provincial Secretary Advocate Showkat Ahmed Mir and various senior leaders and activists of National Conference also addressed the workers and youth activists.