Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah yesterday said he would step down and offer the support of his 28 National Conference legislators to People’s Democratic Party (PDP) if its patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed can solve the Kashmir problem in one year.
In a dig at Sayeed, who said some time ago that if his party had 40 seats in the 87-member state legislative assembly he would resolve the Kashmir problem in one year, Abdullah said: “You have 21 assembly members. I will provide you the support of my 28 assembly members.”
“You will have 50 seats with you. You come forward with a certain and categorical solution to Kashmir issue,” he dared the PDP while addressing a public meeting in north Kashmir’s Pattan town.
Referring to Sayeed’s claim that the Kashmir problem could be solved in one year, he said: “It could not be solved by the four wars fought by India and Pakistan. It could not be solved by 25 years of militancy and disturbance. It could not be solved through summits and dialogues.”
He emphasised the need for sustained dialogue between India and Pakistan to address the Kashmir issue, and called on the leaders of the two countries to talk in the right direction and with the right perspective to resolve this issue once for all.
“We want to tell our children that the Kashmir issue no longer exists and peace and development has taken its place permanently in the state,” he said, stressing on the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan.
He said the Kashmir issue was born at the time of India’s partition, with India considering its accession necessary for the secular characteristics of India while Pakistan wanted the area to be with it for having a Muslim majority.
“Both the countries are nurturing their individual ideas in this regard and the people of Jammu and Kashmir are suffering constantly,” Abdullah lamented.
IANS
