Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said he won’t make an compromise on the issue of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and asserted that he would fight peacefully and democratically for restoration of state status to J&K
Addressing a gathering in Anantnag, CM said, “I will fight democratically and peacefully for the restoration of statehood. But I will not allow Kashmir to once again plunge into fire. Families here have already suffered enough and I do not want to see that cycle of grief return”.
He said he would not accept “destruction, devastation and bloodshed” in the Valley.
Omar also ruled out aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for restoration of statehood. “If inclusion of BJP in the government will help restore statehood, then take my resignation and make any other MLA the Chief Minister, but I will not compromise”.
He recalled that after the last assembly elections, he too had the option of aligning with the BJP. “Like Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti did in 2015 and 2016, I could have chosen to form a government with the BJP. Forming a government we may have been gifted with statehood restoration . But I chose the other path, to keep BJP away from power in J&K. We may have to wait longer, but I will never allow align with BJP on statehood restoration".
On voices demanding protests for statehood, Omar drew a comparison with Ladakh.
“In Ladakh, when people came out, firing started within an hour. Here in Kashmir, they won’t even wait for ten minutes. I don’t want Kashmiri families to collapse under grief again. We will continue our fight, but democratically and peacefully,” he stressed.