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| Separatists reaction against Omar's statement unjustified | | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Aug 18: Expectedly Kashmiri separatists have reacted against Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, who had stated that the politics of boycott had not allowed separatists to achieve anything. Omar has virtually blamed separatists for having added to the level of political uncertainty. He chided them for following "boycott politics." Though Omar Abdullah has been totally right in his assessment of the futility of politics of boycott while referring to the process of election, the Chief Minister seems to have been worried about the impact of the separatists call for poll boycott during the ensuing Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir. It is in this context that Omar Abdullah has appealed people to vote in the state Assembly elections which are due in November-December this year.
He has made a fervent appeal to people to participate in the poll process adding that, whosoever you will vote for, it will be your decision, but please don't waste your vote. Without naming anybody, Omar said there were people who were not in favour of Kashmiris to cast their vote as they claim the participation in electoral process affects the resolution of Kashmir issue.
Omar Abdullah is again right in his perception when he stated boycott politics over the past 25 years has not achieved anything. What bothers the Chief Minister most is the way people, rather voters, respond to the separatists call for poll boycott only in the Kashmir valley. Against this people in the regions of Jammu and Ladakh have been willingly participating in the poll process. He has said that Jammu and Ladakh vote, only Kashmir does not vote. If people want development process to move forward then they have to vote in the upcoming elections in November-December.
Omar also reminded separatists that when he contested the Assembly election in 2008 he did not do so to seek settlement of the Kashmir issue. The Chief Minister said he never fought 2008 Assembly election on the plank of resolving K-issue but to improve amenities like electricity, water supply, education and healthcare. But at the same time, he said, whenever his Government got a chance he highlighted the importance of addressing Kashmir issue before the Prime Minister, in the Legislative Assembly and at all the forums
But separatists continue to believe that even if some percentage of people have participated in the poll process they have done so for getting jobs, for seeing improvement in the road connectivity, electricity and water supply. At the same time these separatists believe that if people respond to their call for poll boycott resulting in very poor polling percentage it would denote peoples' anger against state's accession with India.
It is in this context that separatist leaders have berated Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his remarks that "boycott politics has achieved nothing during the past 25 years." And while doing so separatists have argued that elections were aimed at diluting the Kashmir issue. By poll boycott, we have been raising our voice against forcible control of Jammu and Kashmir by India and its failure to implement the United Nations resolutions which guarantee right to self determination to Kashmiris," said Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (G) Syed Ali Geelani.
He has given a new twist to the tussle between the separatists and the mainstream political parties by alleging that these mainstream parties, including the National Conference, PDP, Congress and the BJP, had failed to even protect life and property of Kashmiris. He even has held Omar Abdullah responsible for sitting mum on action against security personnel in whose action 128 people were killed during the five-month long civil strife in the Kashmir valley in 2010.
Possibly Geelani and others have not taken into account world-wide practice of dealing with a firm hand those engaged in seditious activities. If the youth in Kashmir had resorted to violence does Geelani expect the Omar led Government to watch violence as spectators ? When the separatists give call for poll boycott they simply do so to wreck the poll process in order to convince the world that Kashmiris want settlement of the issue. They tell people that by not voting they were forcing the Government to hold the plebiscite as provided in the UN resolution. Even if they do so has such tactics forced India to grant right of self-determination to people in Kashmir ? Certainly not and that too when polling percentage in the regions of Jammu and Ladakh ranges between 60 and 65. Even if the Kashmir valley records about 30 per cent polling it means that majority of people in the entire state are for greater integration of Jammu and Kashmir state with rest of the country. |
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