'PoK Residents May Have Sought to Join J&K Before Article 370 Revocation': Omar Abdullah

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, at an Independence Day event on Saturday (August 15), said people residing across the Line of Control (LoC) might have been protesting to rejoin Jammu and Kashmir had the Union government not revoked Article 370 in 2019, and credited Kashmiris with resisting the 1947 tribal invasion in J&K before Indian forces arrived.

Omar paid tribute to his grandfather, National Conference founder Sheikh Abdullah, emphasising his role in combating the 1947 Pakistan-backed tribal invasion.

"Before Indian Army reached here, it was the people of J&K who fought the tribal invaders, who fought the infiltrators sent from across, who fought the soldiers sent from across," he said, as quoted by The Times of India, "Thousands of brave people gave up their lives."

"When I see the situations today across the LoC, I realise that the decision taken by our leaders 80 years ago for us was the right decision," said Omar, adding that Sheikh Abdullah preferred India's secular framework to Pakistan's theocracy.

Omar's comments come in the wake of the recent unrest in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), where protests have erupted over the abolition of 12 seats in the 53-member PoK assembly reserved for refugees from J&K who settled there after 1947. Security personnel have killed dozens following the protests.

Omar noted that the developments made him wonder what may have happened had the situation in J&K not changed in 2019.

"Perhaps…people of that part of J&K would be protesting to rejoin us today…That part of J&K Kashmir is ours. We consider those people as our own. No one is a stranger. No one is an outsider," he said.

Omar's government has been pressing for the restoration of statehood to J&K after the 2019 abrogation reduced the erstwhile state to a union territory. Federalism constituted a major part of his Independence Day speech, which argued for greater autonomy for states.

"Federalism suffers when central agencies start interfering in the affairs of the states," Omar said, claiming that restoration of J&K's statehood should form part of a wider plan to strengthen all states instead of leaving federalism as "only words."

He also criticised the centralised admission process for medical and engineering colleges through NEET and JEE, saying states had lost their right to conduct admissions and that national-level examinations only made sense for institutions such as IITs, IIMs and NIFT. He added that state institutions should reserve their rights to conduct examinations and make decisions regarding admissions.

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