NEW DELHI, Apr 5: Phase-wise revocation of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and return of power projects to Jammu and Kashmir are the two most important wishes of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Participating in the Mindmine Summit 2013 here, 43-year- old Omar was asked to list two most important wishes he would like to be fulfilled.
“If I had to select two points, it would be one, the phase-wise revocation of the AFSPA and two, the return of NHPC power projects to the State as recommended by the Rangarajan committee,” he said.
Ever since taking over the reins of the State, his Government has been pitching for phase-wise removal of AFSPA from the State starting from municipal limits of Srinagar and Jammu cities.
Omar said dealing with political problems of the State with inappropriate and unsuitable methods created a complex situation.
“The then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was arrested and a saga of undemocratic nature crept in making things more difficult”, he said, adding this also gravely alienated people.
When asked whether the States were ruling Delhi, he said there is set constitutional position to run the affairs of States and the Union and accommodating aspirations of the people of the States at the Union Government-level is not anything amounting to ‘ruling Delhi’.
“The situation in J&K is special–the accession to the Indian Union was only on four areas–communication, currency, defence and foreign affairs –which have been gradually eroded over the years. So there will be some resistance. You have to deal with it. You have to win the heart of the people.”
Even wearing a watch had become matter of life and death in the Valley because forces wanted people to set Indian Standard Time while separatists asked for setting Pakistan time on watches.
“If you live in an atmosphere of fear and when you leave the house in the morning you don’t know if you are going to return – for 25 years,” he said and emphasised upon understanding the psyche of the people in the State.
Against the backdrop of DMK quitting the UPA over Sri Lankan Tamils issue, Omar said assertive regionalism should not be “disproportionate” to national aspirations.
The National Conference leader was also of the view that regional aspirations should generally “bow” to national aspirations.
Omar said coalition politics in the country has opened a room for regional parties to have their say where regional aspirations have to be met.
Touching upon assertive regionalism, he said, “the most recent example of assertion is by DMK, and last year we saw the TMC. But even in the times of NDA–we were a member of that coalition then.”
Omar said in the era of coalition politics, regional parties who have greater numbers in Parliament and who are part of the ruling coalition definitely get an opportunity to have a say in decisions at the national level.
Omar said the coalition politics allows regional parties to have a say in the national level decision making but sometimes it is disproportionate.
“But some times it is disproportionate…Regional aspirations should generally bow to national aspirations,” he said in an apparent reference to the action by DMK, which quit the ruling UPA over the Centre’s stand on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.
“Everybody knows Chandrababu Naidu of TDP pulled a lot of weight. If he sneezed, Delhi would catch a cold. So much so, that he was dictating appointments of top bureaucrats,” Omar said.
The Chief Minister said India is really a conglomerate of States and has never been one homogeneous society which needed to be recognised and embraced. (PTI)
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