‘J&K Situation Would Be Different If Vajpayee's Approach Wasn’t Forgotten’: CM Omar Abdullah In Assembly

Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah paid tribute to ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, stating that the region's situation would be different if the BJP had followed Vajpayee's approach of dialogue and reconciliation.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, addressing the J-K Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, stated that the region would not be facing its current challenges had the central ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) followed the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s approach. Speaking during an obituary reference in the Assembly, Abdullah paid tribute to Vajpayee, recalling his efforts to bridge divides and improve the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Highlighting Vajpayee’s landmark 1999 visit to Pakistan via the Delhi-Lahore bus, Abdullah remarked, “When Vajpayee went to Pakistan in 1999 on the maiden Delhi-Lahore bus, he had visited Minar-e-Pakistan which was not easy to do. Then he stood at the border and said we can change friends but not the neighbours. Vajpayee said dialogue was the only way out. He repeatedly extended a hand of friendship despite facing setbacks”, news agency PTI reported.

Abdullah, who served in Vajpayee's council, credited him for his consistent efforts to reduce tensions in Jammu and Kashmir, noting, “He always tried to improve the situation in J-K, he tried to ease the tension.” Reflecting on Vajpayee's efforts to open cross-Line of Control (LoC) routes, Abdullah said, “He wanted to bring people across closer. He tried to bring the civil society closer. Today, attempts are made to keep us apart.”

The Chief Minister asserted that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir would be different today if Vajpayee’s vision had continued. “After he left, his approach was forgotten. The design he had given was forgotten,” he lamented.

Responding to remarks by Kulgam MLA M.Y. Tarigami on the autonomy resolution introduced by the then National Conference government in 2000 which New Delhi had rejected during Vajpayee's tenure, Abdullah noted that the then-prime minister had later realised the Centre’s reaction may have been hasty. “So, he appointed senior minister Arun Jaitley to hold talks with the J-K government on it,” Abdullah said, as per PTI.

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In an extensive list of 57 personalities commemorated, including a former president, a former prime minister, a former governor, ex-MLAs, and ex-MLCs, Abdullah highlighted the loss of many significant figures. He noted, “This will perhaps be the last time we will be paying tributes to people from Ladakh as they are no more a part of us.” Among the departed, he remembered Pranab Mukherjee, Somnath Chatterjee, and recently deceased BJP leader Devendra Singh Rana, who was his former colleague. “If there is one colleague I was sad about losing, it was Rana. In the election heat, we said bitter things. But I did not know he was so ill,” Abdullah expressed, recalling their two-decade-long association.

Reflecting on the contributions of those commemorated, Abdullah urged his colleagues to study the lives of all 56 individuals on the obituary list, saying, “All the 56 persons named have done something in serving the people and we should go through their biographies so that we can learn from them.”

Following Abdullah’s tribute, the Assembly observed a two-minute silence to honour the departed souls.