Situation would have been different had Vajpayee’s approach been adopted: Omar Abdullah

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said had the ruling BJP at the Centre adopted former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s vision, Jammu and Kashmir would not have been “in the situation it is in.”

Abdullah, who addressed the House during obituary references in the Legislative Assembly on the second day of the Assembly session, described Vajpayee as a visionary leader, who, he said, was “possibly the first and last to raise the slogan of “Jamhooriyat, Kashmiriyat, and Insaniyat.”

Noting that the former PM stood at the border and said that “friends can be changed but not neighbours,” the Chief Minister said Vajpayee was a towering figure who initiated the Lahore bus service and even visited Minar-e-Pakistan in an effort to boost friendly relations with Pakistan.

“I have known him (Vajpayee) and worked with him as a minister in his council. When we remember Vajpayee, we remember him with reference to J&K. He always tried to improve the situation in J&K, he tried to ease the tension,” he said.

“Unfortunately, Vajpayee’s roadmap for Jammu and Kashmir has been abandoned, leading to increased distances between people instead of fostering connections,” he said, adding that if his vision had been fully adopted, Jammu and Kashmir would not have been in the situation it is in today.

Talking about the autonomy resolution brought by the then National Conference government in 2000 which was rejected by the Centre, Omar said Vajpayee’s later acknowledged that the decision was made hastily.

He then appointed senior minister Arun Jaitley to hold talks with the J&K government on it, said Omar.

Maintaining that Vajpayee worked to “open roads connecting the people of divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir, aiming to build personal relationships and bridge the divide,” the Chief Minister said, “His commitment to building bridges and fostering relationships should inspire us to continue working towards peace and understanding in the region.”

He, however, said that while the former prime minister tried to bring the civil society closer, “today attempts are being made to keep us apart.”

Omar also said Vajpayee’s legacy serves as a reminder of the importance of thoughtful and inclusive decision-making in addressing complex issues such as those in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Leader of the House said the list for obituary references was huge which indicated “how long the gap was between our two sessions”. He said the last such session was held in 2018.

“57 personalities — former president, former prime minister, former governor, ex-MLAs and ex-MLCs are in the list. 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,” he added.

Abdullah also said there were 45 people in the list with whom he has worked or were known to him, and went on to mention a few.

After his speech, the House observed a two-minute silence as a mark of respect to the departed souls.