Pulwama, Sep 16: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said protesters had the right to demonstrate in a democracy but urged them to choose dialogue to resolve their demands, making it clear that the government would not hold talks while protests continued.
During a review meeting in Pulwama, Abdullah said Pulwama was likely to figure among the top five of Jammu and Kashmir’s 20 districts in terms of execution of works and budget utilisation, praising the Deputy Commissioner and his team.
The CM asked the administration to make an additional push during the remaining two to three months of the working season to utilise as much of the allocated funds as possible. “If the district exhausted its full budget, additional funds could be arranged through reallocation,” he said.
Abdullah said the four MLAs from Pulwama had placed several public demands before him, with some resolved during the meeting and others to be decided after the government returned to Srinagar.
“Around Rs 100 crore worth of projects in Pulwama had either been inaugurated or had their foundation stones laid on the day. These included road, school and hospital works, bridges and a dairy processing village,” he said, adding that work was visible on the ground across almost every sector in the district.
The Chief Minister’s remarks came in response to a broader question on ongoing protests by different groups in Jammu and Kashmir. While referring to trainee doctors as an example, he said the government was ready to engage with protesters once their agitations ended.
On protests, Omar said, “In a democracy, telling someone that they cannot protest would be wrong.” He urged protesters to choose the path of dialogue, saying, “Ultimately, a solution will come through dialogue.”
“While you are protesting, we will not be able to talk to you,” he said, adding that allowing people to seek their demands through protests could encourage others to take the same route.
Referring to trainee doctors, the CM said talks with them began after they ended their protest. “Protest if you want, no one will stop you, but there will be no talks while you are protesting,” he said. He added that once protests ended, the government would consider their legitimate demands and hold talks with them.
On a statement by the Leader of Opposition, CM Omar said he would respond to one statement from the LoP every month as he did not have time to respond to his daily remarks. He said he had responded to one statement the previous day and would give his next response in October.
On tourism, the Chief Minister said Pulwama had received the least focus among Kashmir Valley districts and that no area in the district had so far been developed as a tourism destination despite its potential.
He said MLA Tral Rafiq Ahmad Naik had raised the issue of bringing some areas of Tral onto the tourism map during the meeting. Omar said he had allocated funds for these areas in this year’s tourism budget and would provide more funds once the initial allocation was utilised. “We want to bring Pulwama district onto the tourism map as well,” he said.
