Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said people in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) might have protested to “reunite with us” if the constitutional structure of Jammu and Kashmir had not been changed in 2019.
Speaking at the 80th Independence Day celebrations in Srinagar, Omar called for the “returning of what has been snatched from us” and said the situation in the other part of Jammu and Kashmir had left people in the Union Territory “sad” and “perturbed”.
“We have a feeling that if our situation had not been changed in 2019, today the people of other Kashmir would have been protesting to get reunited with us,” he said.
Referring to protests in PoK, Omar said the decision taken by Jammu and Kashmir’s leaders 80 years ago had been the right one.
“When I see the situation on the other side of the border, I feel that the decision our leaders took for us 80 years ago was the right one. The people, who raised slogans ‘Hamla awar khabardar, hum Kashmiri hain tayyar‘ (the invaders be informed that we Kashmiris are ready) were right. The people made sacrifices, those sacrifices were (for) the right (cause),” Omar said.
Omar also called democracy and federalism the two biggest strengths of India, saying federalism should be strengthened beginning with Jammu and Kashmir.
“We have to save democracy at any cost, we have to strengthen it, we have to keep it alive. It is our biggest responsibility. But together with it, we can’t step away from safeguarding and strengthening the federalism of this country,” he said. “Today, when we talk about strengthening federalism, we should start from Jammu and Kashmir. Whatever has been snatched from us should be returned so that they are no mere words”.
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