National Conference leader Omar Abdullah feels the abrogation of Article 370 has not served a purpose, saying the country has moved away farther from the solution to the vexed Kashmir issue despite the Centre withdrawing the special status to the erstwhile J&K state two years ago.
In an interview to a news channel, he said the government had failed to address the issue of Kashmiri Pandits’ migration despite scrapping Article 370. “You had said how Kashmiri Pandits were forcefully evicted from Kashmir. It has been two years since Article 370 was removed, how many Kashmiri Pandits have been able to go back to Kashmir?”
Omar, who along with his father Farooq Abdullah met PM Narendra Modi just five days before the scrapping of special status to J&K in 2019, said he had “no clue that things were about to change” even after meeting the PM.
When asked what the PM had told him at the meeting, Omar said: “It was a conversation between us. I can’t tell you what happened. I feel I misunderstood what I had heard, what I understood from our conversation I feel I misunderstood it.”
“Almost everyone was taken by surprise. Just a handful of people were aware of it before it was implemented. Some in the media were told about it. We were not told about it at all,” said Omar.
Omar, who remained in detention for 234 days, said his outlook towards the country has not changed. “I do not hold the country responsible for what happened. But I may not be as trusting of the institutions as I ordinarily should have been or would have been.”
Asked if he included courts when he talked about institutions, he said: “…the fact that nothing has happened in our petition for two years would make me critical. But I can’t divorce myself from the reality of almost two years of a Covid pandemic which has affected the functioning of courts everywhere. So, am I disappointed that the Supreme Court has not found the time to begin hearings of our petition? Absolutely! But do I understand the circumstances that prevailed in the country? Yes! There will come a time when, despite these circumstances, we will expect the Supreme Court to begin hearings.”
When asked about charges that he “sails in two boats” via-a-vis the Kashmir issue, he said: “We were always in Hindustan’s boat. But before we were on board, there were promises made by the Indian government.” He added: “We are angry because India didn’t keep its promise.”
(With inputs from agencies)