The Hindu : Front Page : Omar says his party is neither regional nor communal

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Monday, Aug 11, 2008
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Omar says his party is neither regional nor communal

Luv Puri

Omar Abdullah

Jammu: National Conference president Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that a part of his speech in Parliament about Amarnath land row during the trust vote was wrongly interpreted and he emphasised that the people of both Jammu and the valley enjoy the same rights as fellow State subjects.

Writing in his blog, he said, “I have privately introspected since the moment I finished the speech and I have not stopped introspecting. In the context of the issue of transfer of land to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), I challenge anybody to prove that we were against the yatra but our fight was for our land. Here reference to ‘our’ was to the people of the State, including that of Jammu. I can never conceive of, as alleged, that it belonged only to Muslims. ‘Our’ land belongs to all State subjects irrespective of religion, caste or creed.” Attacking the parties doubting his party’s secular and patriotic credentials, he said, “I should not be expected to prove my secular credentials and patriotism for which the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference has stood ever since its birth and made more sacrifices than any other party in the State. The last two decades of militancy has taken maximum toll of our members. Those who doubt our bonafides are least qualified to do so and hence we do not require lessons from them. My party is neither regional nor communal and Jammu”s interests are as dear to us as those of Kashmir.” On the Amarnath land row, he said, “If it’s the yatra that matters then lets set our egos aside and concentrate on the yatra. Let us reconstitute the SASB with only State subjects. Let us get the Governor to pass an ordinance to make the Chairman of the SASB also a state subject if it helps with the conduct of the yatra and then let the SASB conduct next year’s yatra with as much land and facilities as they require, facilities created at the expense not of the SASB but of the State government.”

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