Omar Abdullah attacks PDP-BJP govt over reports to give land for Sainik colony

Sainik colony could be a ruse to settle non-state subjects in Kashmir and hence bypass Article 370, Omar Abdullah said addressing party workers in north Kashmir.

Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday termed as a possible "ruse to settle non-state subjects" in the Valley the PDP-BJP government's reported proposal to allocate land for setting up a 'Sainik colony'.

He said the "glaring contradiction" of the Mehbooba Mufti government on the proposal, which is in "violation" of Article 370, has given rise to apprehensions about their "underlying political motive".

"The PDP-BJP government's glaring contradictions on the Sainik colony proposal has given rise to apprehensions about their underlying political motive. From the government's denial that the land is being provided to the 'Sainik Colony' to the administration officially writing to concerned officers to identify the land for the colony, the PDP-BJP government of Mehbooba Mufti has come a full circle.

"Considering their record of over the past one year, people have serious apprehensions. It could be a ruse to settle non-state subjects in Kashmir and hence bypass Article 370," Omar said addressing party workers in north Kashmir's Baramulla district.

Omar, working president of the opposition National Conference (NC), said Mehbooba Mufti continues to be "vague" on this issue and it seems she has been implicitly ordered to not interfere in the matter.

"Is the Mehbooba Mufti government trying to re-enact the 2008 turmoil where a PDP government set the state on fire in violation of the special status by giving away hundreds of kanals of land to the Shrine Board in violation of legal norms, Article 370 and other constitutional provisions?

"There seems to be an uncanny similarity between what PDP did in 2008 and what the PDP-BJP government is trying to do today with the 'Sainik Colony' proposal," Omar said.

He said Mehbooba Mufti's "shocking exclusion" from the high-level meeting on J-K, chaired by the Union Home minister in Delhi, was an "unmistakable example of her dis-empowerment" and how she was "squarely" responsible for "bartering away the sanctity and constitutional mandate of the Chief Minister's office to remain in power".

"It seems her silence on the 'Sainik Colony' issue was also a result of her complicity in such political maneuvers that are aimed at weakening the state's special status and altering its demographic character," Omar said.

Alleging that the chief minister "cowered" into silence and "rank inaction" in both the NIT as well as Handwara incidents, he said, the central government dealt with these situations directly, "completely bypassing" the state administration as well as the elected Chief Minister.