Srinagar, Oct 16: It is a crown of thorns and may Allah help him fulfil the hopes of people, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said on Wednesday after his son Omar Abdullah took oath as the first chief minister of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking a cue from his grandfather, Zahir Abdullah, Omar Abdullah’s son, said the new government’s first priority is restoration of statehood.
“The state is full of challenges and I hope this government will do what it had promised in the election manifesto… It is a crown of thorns and may (almighty) Allah succeed him (Omar) and he fulfils the people’s hope. This is my message,” Farooq Abdullah told reporters after the oath-taking ceremony at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC).
“After statehood, our true struggle (for restoration of) Article 370 will start. Article 370 will always be our priority,” Zahir Abdullah added.
Omar Abdullah heads the first elected government in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, when the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Mehbooba hopes Omar-led govt will heal ‘wounds’ of J&K people
It is a “very auspicious day” as people of Jammu and Kashmir have got their government after several years, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said on Wednesday on the swearing-in of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
“Today is a very auspicious day. People of Jammu and Kashmir have got their government after several years. People have elected a stable government. People of Jammu and Kashmir suffered a lot especially after 2019, and we hope that this new government will heal the wounds we got,” she told reporters after attending Abdullah’s oath ceremony.
She, however, expressed hope that the government would pass a resolution condemning the Centre’s August 5, 2019 decisions of abrogating Article 370, and bifurcating J-K into two union territories.
“We hope that the government will pass a resolution condemning the decision of August 5, 2019, that the people of J-K do not accept those decisions,” she added.
The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of J-K also expressed hope that the government will find ways to resolve issues of unemployment, drug addiction, electricity and others.
Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija Mufti also expressed hope that the new government would do justice to the overwhelming mandate it received.
“J&K will finally have an elected government after an excruciatingly long wait of six years. Best wishes to Omar sahab & hope they do justice to the overwhelming mandate & trust people have reposed in them,” Iltija posted on X.
Congratulating Abdullah, the PDP, in a separate post on X, said the party would support the new government on its promises of standing against the decisions taken on August 5, 2019.
“We congratulate @OmarAbdullah sb for taking oath as Chief Minister UT of J&K. People have elected the new government with a hope that it stays true to its promises of standing against the decisions taken on 5 August 2019, and we support the new govt on it. Our best wishes to him and his cabinet for a fruitful tenure,” the PDP said. (PTI)
