SRINAGAR/JAMMU: Striking a poetic note on the seventh anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state of Jammu & Kashmir into two Union Territories, chief minister Omar Abdullah invoked celebrated American poet Robert Lee Frost as he said the wounds caused by the move had still not healed, and vowed that “the injustices done to us will be corrected”.“7 years, we haven’t forgotten & we haven’t reconciled far less accepted our current circumstances. My party & I remain committed to reversing all that was done to J&K that took away our rights & threatens our identity. ‘The woods are lovely, dark & deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep’…” Omar said in a post on X, quoting from the poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by Frost, before he left for an inspection of flood-hit areas in Jammu’s Poonch district.Speaking to reporters in Poonch, the CM said, “The wounds of the abrogation are still there. We had hoped that at least some balm would be applied to those wounds and the promise of restoring statehood would be fulfilled…Seven years have passed, but the promise remains unfulfilled.”Barring BJP, which celebrated the abrogation of Article 370, all major political parties in Kashmir held protests and demonstrations, carrying banners and raising slogans describing Aug 5, 2019, as a ‘black day’. However, security forces foiled attempts by various parties to take out marches in Srinagar.Senior functionaries of governing NC and Congress remained absent from the protests held by their parties, which focused on seeking restoration of statehood. The PDP march was led by Iltija Mufti, who accused cops of manhandling her during Tuesday’s attempted protest.
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“It’s on this day we were caged like animals while a govt drunk on power stripped our state of its special status, flag, residuary powers and constitution. Our peaceful fight for it will continue till the day we get every bit of it back,” Iltija said.Lt governor Manoj Sinha, on the other hand, hailed the decision, saying it had “dismantled the terror ecosystem to a large extent, strengthened law and order, restored equal rights and created opportunities that allow families to rebuild their lives with confidence”. “The transformation we witness today in J&K is due to the historic changes of Aug 5, 2019. That day marked a constitutional correction and a new beginning for the UT,” he said.
| JAMMU: A row erupted after PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti was seen holding the Tricolour upside down during a candlelight protest over Article 370 on Tuesday evening. CM Omar Abdullah, however, played it down, saying he believed it was an inadvertent mistake rather than a deliberate act.
“I cannot believe that a person who served as a CM would deliberately display the flag of the country upside down. It must be a mistake,” he said. |
