Avinash Azad
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday used his Independence Day address at Bakshi Stadium here to draw a direct connection between the events of 1947, the present situation across the Line of Control (LoC) and the political changes made in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, asserting that the decision taken by the leadership of that time was vindicated by the conditions prevailing across the LoC today.
Looking across the LoC, Omar said, one realises that “80 years ago, the decision our leaders took for us was the right decision.”
He paid tribute to those who raised the call to resist the invaders and said the sacrifices made by those who fought to stop the tribal invasion were justified. The Chief Minister recalled the sacrifice of Master Abdul Aziz, a National Conference leader who was brutally killed in Muzaffarabad while resisting the attack and attempting to stop the tribal raiders.
Omar said the situation prevailing in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) today evokes sadness, pain and concern. But his most politically significant observation came when he linked the present situation with the developments of 2019. “Perhaps if our situation had not been changed in 2019, the people of that part of Jammu and Kashmir (PoK) would today be protesting to reunite with us,” Omar said.
He stressed that the people living across the LoC were not strangers to those on this side. “That part of Jammu and Kashmir is ours. We consider those people our own; there is no outsider, no stranger,” he said.
Omar also pointed towards the continued provision of seats for the representatives of those areas in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, saying these seats have been kept with the hope that one day the people concerned would be able to occupy them.
Moving from the LoC issue to the broader question of India’s political structure, Omar said the country’s greatest strengths were its democracy and federalism.
He stressed that democracy must be protected, strengthened and kept alive under all circumstances. But, he said, the country could not afford to step back from the responsibility of protecting and strengthening federalism.
Referring to India’s constitutional description as a Union of States, Omar said the country was not merely called a Union of States but was constitutionally recognised as one. It was against this backdrop that the Chief Minister made a direct pitch for restoring what he said had been taken away from Jammu and Kashmir. “Let us start this from Jammu and Kashmir. What was taken away from us should be returned to us,” Omar said, arguing that only then could the idea of federalism and its identity be given practical shape rather than allowing it to remain merely a phrase. Omar, however, broadened his argument, saying strengthening federalism did not mean strengthening only Jammu and Kashmir.
“It means strengthening the states; strengthening all the states of this country,” he said, arguing that this was essential for giving federalism a renewed strength and keeping the federal structure intact.
