Advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani on Wednesday said the government is compelled to stage a protest as key issues, including restoration of statehood and rationalisation of reservations, remained pending despite waiting for two years.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the protest, Wani as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said the party has been patiently waiting for the commitments made to the people to be fulfilled.
“Understand why we are compelled to stage this protest. For two years, we have been sitting patiently and waiting with the hope that the promises made to us would be fulfilled,” he said.
Wani said people had expected statehood to be restored after the elections, but no concrete discussion had taken place on the issue. “We had full hope that statehood would be restored, but there has been no discussion on it,” he said.
On reservation rationalisation, Wani said the Cabinet had approved the matter and forwarded it to the Lieutenant Governor, but the issue remained pending. “This is an issue directly linked to the future of our youth, but it is also being delayed and no decision has been taken on it,” he said.
He said the government had been informed that certain queries had been received from Delhi and that the matter was subsequently returned to the Cabinet for a response.
“We were told that there were some queries from Delhi and that the matter had been returned to the Cabinet. The Cabinet was supposed to respond to those queries and send it back to the Lieutenant Governor, but that is not happening,” Wani said.
He also questioned the delay in appointing the Advocate General, saying several matters were being held up.
“The situation has reached such an extent that even the Advocate General has not been appointed yet. So, what are we protesting about? Those who are responsible for working should do their work,” he said.
Wani accused the opposition of attempting to divert public attention instead of addressing issues confronting the people. “They are trying to divert the attention of the people. They have not been able to accept their defeat. They still believed that they would form the government here, but the people of Jammu and Kashmir taught them a lesson,” he said.
He further alleged that the people of Jammu and Kashmir were suffering because of what he described as the opposition’s inability to accept the electoral verdict.
“I feel that they are taking revenge on the people. You have seen for yourself how our ministers, MLAs and colleagues are being pushed and treated so badly,” Wani said.—(KNO)
