PM is like father figure: Omar

31 August, Jammu

Asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is like father figure, former Chief Minister and National Conference Working President Omar Abdullah Thursday recalled Modi’s outreach to the people of the state on Independence Day by saying that a hope has been rekindled and time had come to translate his resolve into action by making a real difference on ground in the State.

”Prime Minister is like a father figure; he belongs to the entire nation and the entire nation belongs to him. He has to own all and his words from ramparts of Red Fort were soothing. Now time has come when Goli and Gaali are discarded and all embrace each other to create an atmosphere of peace and progress,” Abdullah said while addressing a party rally in Rajouri and winding up his five-day visit to the border districts.

”In doing so the Prime Minister should play the leading role, whether it is to address the internal or the external dimensions of Jammu and Kashmir”, said Abdullah.He referred to the Prime Minister’s statement that the persistent issue can be resolved by embracing everybody in the state and said, “Let the Centre come forward, embrace the people and help Jammu and Kashmir steer out of its difficulties”.

Abdullah said that Jammu and Kashmir became part of India as per the conditions enshrined in the Instrument of Accession and later in the Constitution of India. ”We are part of India and shall continue to be so. We only ask for maintaining and preserving constitutional guarantees granted to our state”, he said.

”We are the only state having our own Constitution and own flag”, the former Chief Minister said, hoping this uniqueness will be understood and respected. He referred to the ongoing row over Article 35A and said fighting for its retention in the Constitution cannot be termed as anti-national act and said, ” Article 35A is custodian of the interests of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions. It is religious neutral, regional neutral and caste neutral.”

He however, declared that National Conference will continue to fight for its safeguard. In this context, he referred to the state-wide mobilization being done by his party over special proviso of the Constitution of India. Abdullah also cautioned against projecting the fight for Article 35A as Hindu versus Muslim or Kashmir versus rest of the country issue.