INDEPENDENCE DAY SPEECH: Omar Abdullah vows to continue efforts to get back statehood

STC NEWS DESK
SRINAGAR, AUGUST 15 (STC): Even as reintroduction of an elected government in Jammu and Kashmir came after a long gap, it was a necessary step, However, efforts will continue to achieve the statehood back over a period of time.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah stated this in his address on the occasion of Independence Day here today.
He said the democratic process had been on pause for too long, and that even though delayed, elections brought back a much-needed element of governance in the region.
Reflecting on the hours leading up to his speech, Omar said he spent the night thinking about what message to give the people. His address focused largely on the political transformation of Jammu and Kashmir and the aspirations tied to its former status.
Omar Abdullah also made history by becoming the first elected Chief Minister to hoist the national flag in Jammu and Kashmir since 2017. The last time an elected leader presided over the Independence Day ceremony in Srinagar was when Mehbooba Mufti was the chief minister.
It’s pertinent to mention that the fall of the PDP-BJP coalition in June 2018 led to Governor’s rule, followed by the reorganisation of the region in August 2019. Since then, there had been no elected government until the recent polls restored an elected leadership.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah commenting on the efforts to seek restoration of statehood said the journey will not be simple, but expressed hope that it would be achieved with time.
He, in his speech, reflected on the region’s political shifts over the past several years.
Omar noted that the last time he addressed the occasion, he was the Chief Minister of a state. “Today, I stand here as the head of a Union Territory,” he said, recalling the period before Jammu and Kashmir lost its special status and statehood in 2019.
He said there had been anticipation ahead of this year’s national celebrations that an announcement regarding the return of statehood might be made. “We had heard that some documents were being prepared. There was some expectation,” he said. “But the day came and went without any such development.”

(Straight Talk Communications)