J&K still is a Union territory; don’t try to escape from this reality: Omar Abdullah to Opposition

SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday asked the opposition members not to try to escape from the reality of Jammu and Kashmir still being a Union Territory in their bid to run his government down or score political points over it.

“Just because we have mentioned ‘Union Territory’ here and not anything else, it does not change anything. Unfortunately, until the Parliament of India restores our statehood, we will remain a Union Territory. So let us not politicise this,” Mr. Abdullah said in the J&K Assembly after opposition People’s Conference (PC) leader Sajad Gani Lone staged a walkout over the use of the term “Union Territory” in the draft of a bill seeking an amendment in the J&K Goods and Services tax (GST) Act, 2017.

Mr. Lone who represents the Handwara Assembly constituency, however, justified his waking out of the House saying the purpose of the bill was to insert the word J&K UT instead of J&K state and “I want to make it clear that the passage of the bill is tantamount to endorsement of the UT status of J&K.”

He said that he tried to protest but given the massive mandate that the people of J&K have given to Mr. Abdullah’s National Conference (NC) “my voice was drowned out and I walked out”.

Later in a post on ‘X’, he said, “Did they (Centre) ask the Assembly when Article 370 was abrogated? When Article 35A was abrogated. When the state of J&K was relegated to a UT. Why are they asking the Assembly now to passively endorse what will eventually be interpreted by history as an active endorsement of the act of relegating J&K to a UT”.

He further stated, “The whole pre-election narrative was around undoing the catastrophic events of 5 August 2019. The idea was that the Assembly will unambiguously pass resolutions rejecting all the actions of 5 August. The reality as it stares in our faces is that till date, we have not passed anything which is clear, concise and unambiguous”.

Mr. Lone asserted that the power of the Assembly to make laws or undo events of August 5, 2019 is not what matters. “What is far more important is what is the voice of the people that emanates from the Assembly. We have not been barred from voicing our opinion. And the voices that are emanating do not do justice with the sentiments of the people of J&K,” he said.

The Chief Minister had while criticising Mr. Lone said that walking out does not help the cause. “We should not engage in politics over WhatsApp university posts, which some among us have received,” he said, adding, “We have to get back statehood to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Inshallah, we will restore it. Removing the word ‘UT’ will not change our reality. We are a UT whether you like it or not. This government governs as a Union Territory.”

As People’s Democratic Party (PDP) member Waheed Ur Rehman Parra also raised his concern about what he alleged was the endorsement of J&K’s UT status, the Chief Minister said, “All the business conducted by this house so far has been under the name of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. During the passing of the finance bill, I repeatedly mentioned ‘Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir’ regarding consolidated funds. Why didn’t Sajad stage a walkout then? During my grants, I mentioned ‘Union Territory’ as well.” He added that all members of the House took oath under the Union Territory and contested elections under it.

Reassuring the members that he, his government and the NC would continue to fight for the restoration of statehood to J&K, Mr. Abdullah reminded the members of his cabinet passing a resolution to this effect in its first meeting held in Srinagar in October last year. He said, “We submitted it to the Prime Minister. I raised it with him during the Sonamarg function (inauguration of a road tunnel by the Prime Minister). Whenever I go to Delhi, I bring it up, that the people of J&K do not like the Union Territory status and want the restoration of statehood,” he said. 

Later during the day, the House passed the bill aimed at aligning the J&K's GST Act with the recent amendments made to the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.