NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday slammed Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah for criticising the abrogation of Article 370 during his Independence Day speech and accused him of creating an atmosphere of confusion in the Valley.Reacting to Omar’s speech, leader of opposition in Jammu and Kashmir assembly Sunil Sharma said that the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 strengthened the federal structure in Kashmir.“The chief minister’s speech was a bit regrettable. I would say this was an unfortunate and irresponsible speech because this is not a political stage. From this stage, there should be a speech for the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the country, a tribute to the soldiers, a tribute to the martyrs, and especially for the pride and honour of the Tricolour,” Sharma said.“I would like to tell the chief minister that it was after August 5, 2019, that this federal structure was strengthened. That is the reason why today every Kashmiri is humming Vande Mataram,” the LoP said, adding that the chief minister’s speech raises questions about what he wants to convey by “misusing this stage”.“The whole of India accepts that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of them. People here are a strength, a power of this country. Not just here, but also those people across (the Line of Control) under illegal occupation. We consider them also an integral part of us, and deem them our companions,” the LoP said.This comes after the chief minister, in his speech, referred to the protests in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and said that the people on the other side of the LoC would have been protesting to rejoin India if Article 370 had not been abrogated.He said that the situation in PoK vindicates the decision of National Conference founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and his colleagues to fight the Pakistan-backed tribal invaders in 1947.“When I see the situation today across the border and across the LoC, I realise that the decision taken by our leaders 80 years ago for us was the right decision,” the chief minister said. “Those who raised the slogan ‘Hamalawar Khabardar’ were right and the sacrifices they made were right,” Omar said.“Today I remember people like Master Abdul Aziz, a leader of the National Conference, who was brutally killed in Muzaffarabad (PoK) to stop those very attackers, to stop the tribals, to stop those infiltrators,” Omar said. “Today, when we see the condition of that part of Jammu and Kashmir across the LoC, we feel sad, we feel worried. For my part, I feel that perhaps if our situation had not changed in 2019, the people of that part of Jammu and Kashmir would be protesting to rejoin us today,” Omar said.
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“That part of Jammu and Kashmir is ours. We consider those people as our own. No one is a stranger. No one is an outsider. Even today, as per the law of Jammu and Kashmir, seats are reserved for them in the Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, with the hope that one day those people will be able to use these vacant seats,” Omar added.
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