Srinagar, Sep 2: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday alleged a “double standard” in the administration’s handling of protests, claiming BJP workers were “facilitated” while National Conference (NC) activists were “brutally repressed”.
Speaking to reporters here, CM Omar as per Kashmir Convener rejected any comparison between the two demonstrations that took place in Srinagar.
“You saw BJP being allowed to protest and National Conference not being allowed to protest. That is what you saw today,” he said.
“There is no equivalence in the way in which the two parties were treated by the administration, by the police. One was facilitated and one was brutally repressed,” he added.
The chief minister said NC workers were manhandled during their protest.
“Colleagues of mine were dragged. They were injured. Some of them had to seek treatment in hospital. So that was what was done with National Conference,” he said.
In contrast, CM Omar said, the BJP was escorted by security personnel and its leaders had easy access to the media.
“The BJP was escorted. The ease with which you were able to interview the leader of the opposition during their protest was seen by all of us,” he said.
CM Omar alleged that police were deployed to protect the BJP’s “honour”.
“If you want to march on the Chief Minister’s residence, you are allowed to. If you want to tear out the Secretariat, you are allowed to. But if you want to protest outside the BJP’s office, God forbid, that you will not be allowed,” he said.
“The police is there only to protect the honour of the BJP. They don’t care about anything else,” he added.
Responds to LoP criticism
Responding to the Leader of the Opposition’s charge that he had failed to deliver on manifesto promises, CM Omar questioned the demand for his resignation over the statehood issue.
“Now they are talking about statehood. We have voted for statehood. Why should I resign?” he asked.
He said his government would present its “report card” before the people after completing its five-year term.
Dismissing BJP’s allegations of corruption and backdoor appointments, CM Omar said his government lacked the power to investigate such matters.
“The Anti-Corruption Bureau is not under my control. The Crime Branch is not under my control. The CID is not under my control,” he said.
He challenged the opposition to cite any investigation carried out into the alleged irregularities.
“If there have been backdoor appointments, then which agency investigated them? If there has been corruption, then which agency probed it?” he asked.
CM Omar termed the allegations “baseless” and accused the BJP of targeting his government due to its own failures.
“These are baseless allegations from the BJP, because they have nothing else to say. They themselves fail every day and target us,” he said.
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