SRINAGAR: Taking note of the “ripples” created within his party over his write-up in a national daily, National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday backtracked from his earlier demand of statehood for J&K.
Omar tweeted: “I’ve simply said that having been CM of the STATE of J&K I will not fight an assembly election to the assembly of the UT of J&K. That’s it. No more no less! That’s a far cry from saying I’m demanding statehood be restored.”
He made this clarification after former NC minister Agha Ruhullah Mehdi, an influential Shia leader from Budgam in central Kashmir, who was chief spokesman of the party, on Tuesday resigned in protest against “Omar’s remarks for restoration of statehood for J&K”.
Omar, in his article, had mentioned the restoration of statehood to J&K as a pre-condition for contesting assembly polls in future.
Senior NC leaders, including Mehdi, disapproved Omar’s remarks and blamed him for “forgetting to demand” the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A, party insiders said.
In an Op-Ed piece published on Monday, Omar for the first time spoke out on Kashmir politics since his release in March after eight months in detention. He censured the Centre for scrapping Article 370 and also announced that he would return to electoral politics only after J&K’s statehood was restored.
In response to this, Mehdi said, “What happened on August 5, 2019 is beyond statehood and it should be the last demand. I feel for what happened to my fellow citizens as it was a coup on the population of J&K.” The restoration of statehood should be the last demand while our main demand should be restoration of special status, he added.
Omar, however, blamed journalists for putting words in his mouth. “I have no problem being disagreed with for what I say or do but when you invent things & put words in my mouth to attack me then that’s more about you than about me. All you lazy journalists & commentators please show me where I’ve demanded statehood be restored,” he tweeted.
“Haters will hate & nothing will change that. There are a few people from whom I expected better but disappointment is part of politics & one has learnt to live with it. Life goes on,” he tweeted again.
Omar tweeted: “I’ve simply said that having been CM of the STATE of J&K I will not fight an assembly election to the assembly of the UT of J&K. That’s it. No more no less! That’s a far cry from saying I’m demanding statehood be restored.”
He made this clarification after former NC minister Agha Ruhullah Mehdi, an influential Shia leader from Budgam in central Kashmir, who was chief spokesman of the party, on Tuesday resigned in protest against “Omar’s remarks for restoration of statehood for J&K”.
Omar, in his article, had mentioned the restoration of statehood to J&K as a pre-condition for contesting assembly polls in future.
Senior NC leaders, including Mehdi, disapproved Omar’s remarks and blamed him for “forgetting to demand” the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A, party insiders said.
In an Op-Ed piece published on Monday, Omar for the first time spoke out on Kashmir politics since his release in March after eight months in detention. He censured the Centre for scrapping Article 370 and also announced that he would return to electoral politics only after J&K’s statehood was restored.
In response to this, Mehdi said, “What happened on August 5, 2019 is beyond statehood and it should be the last demand. I feel for what happened to my fellow citizens as it was a coup on the population of J&K.” The restoration of statehood should be the last demand while our main demand should be restoration of special status, he added.
Omar, however, blamed journalists for putting words in his mouth. “I have no problem being disagreed with for what I say or do but when you invent things & put words in my mouth to attack me then that’s more about you than about me. All you lazy journalists & commentators please show me where I’ve demanded statehood be restored,” he tweeted.
“Haters will hate & nothing will change that. There are a few people from whom I expected better but disappointment is part of politics & one has learnt to live with it. Life goes on,” he tweeted again.