Need for dialogue unquestionable; New Delhi needs to change its stance: Omar

17 December, Srinagar

Reiterating that initiating a dialogue was unquestionable, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Saturday alleged that the coalition Government of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was a monumental failure.

He said the people were suffering due to erratic power and ration supply even as the ministers were holidaying. Addressing a party convention at Kupwara in north Kashmir today, Abdullah said the need for New Delhi to start a comprehensive political dialogue both with various stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir as well as with Pakistan was unquestionable and crucial in order to achieve sustainable peace. He asked New Delhi to change its rigid stance and adopt a nuanced, humane policy of engagement rather than treating a political issue through law and order mechanisms.

He said the PDP-BJP experiment in J&K had turned out to be monumental political failure that had wreaked havoc with peace and stability in the state and had also brought about a complete collapse of the administrative machinery rendering developmental works defunct. “There is absolutely no alternative to political engagement. New Delhi needs to realise that it has to talk to various stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir and also resume the dialogue process with Pakistan if it wants to see normalcy and peace in Kashmir,” Abdullah said.

He said when they met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh during the course of the current unrest, they asked the Central Government to initiate a process of political engagement with various stakeholders in the state and also resume the dialogue process with Pakistan without any further delay. “We asked the Central Government to realise that neighbours cannot afford perpetual hostility and peace was the only sustainable option,” Abdullah said.