Srinagar: Rather than making a false
promise, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday
preferred to leave the venue of a public gathering where he
was expected to make a commitment for carving out Beerwah
district from Budgam.
Addressing a gathering at Beerwah town, 35 kms from
here, Omar made it clear to the audience that he will not make
a promise that he cannot fulfill.
The Chief Minister's no-nonsense statement came after
he realized that Abdul Majid Matoo, a local National
Conference leader, had gathered the crowd on the promise that
Omar will announce the district status for Beerwah.
However, Omar told the gathering in no uncertain terms
that even though he sympathized with them, he cannot make a
false commitment and explained to them the procedure adopted
for creation of new districts.
Some of the local organisers insisted that Omar should
make the commitment to please the people even if it is not to
be fulfilled later.
However, Omar plainly refused to do so and left the
venue instead.
He told the organizers that it went against his grain
to fool the people and make false promises to them because his
politics is based on principles of truth and integrity.
"People have reposed faith and trust in me and I
cannot betray them," he said.
Earlier, the Chief Minister had assured the people
that the areas which had hitherto remained out of development
purview would receive focused attention during his tenure.
"We want to deliver efficiently and as per the
aspirations of the people," he said adding uplift of people
living in far-flung and backward pockets is a priority of his
government.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, June 28, 2011, 18:33