Outlook's Ubeer Naqushbandi Speaks with National Conference's Vice President Omar Abdullah

OutlookIndia

National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah, who is set to become chief minister for the second time, stressed the importance of a "healthy working relationship" with New Delhi, but said that there would be no common ground between his party and the BJP.  Abdullah first served as chief minister from 2009 to 2014 when Jammu and Kashmir was still a state. Speaking with Outlook's senior sub-editor Ubeer Naqushbandi, he said, "We won't accept the politics of the BJP and the BJP won't accept our politics. Our rivalry with the BJP will continue."  Abdullah, who won both the Budgam and Ganderbal seats, said that the election results as a clear rejection of the BJP’s policies in Kashmir, which overwhelmingly voted against the BJP.  The NC secured 42 seats in the 90-member Assembly, crossing the majority mark in partnership with Congress, which won six seats. However, Congress became a junior partner after four independent MLAs extended their support to the National Conference. The BJP, despite achieving its best-ever tally of 29 seats, fell short of its target of 35 in the Jammu region.  Reporter: Ubeer Naqushbandi Camera: Yasir Iqbal  Follow us: Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/ X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia  #JammuandKashmir #JammuandKashmirElections #NationalConference #BJP #OmarAbdullah

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to Outlook. Today we are at Jammu and Kashmir's Paul Street, we are at Gupkar

00:05and we are at Abdullah's. Abdullah's have the imprint on Kashmir's present, past and hopefully

00:12future as well. We are with the man of the moment, Omar Abdullah. Welcome to Outlook sir.

00:19Great win, big win, resounding win for your party. We have seen Kashmir again reposing faith on

00:25national conference and in Jammu we have seen people go on with a BJP. How do you see this

00:32and how do you navigate this? It's not an unusual situation. First and foremost, I'm humbled

00:39by the mandate that the national conference has received, that the alliance has received.

00:45I'm acutely aware that this mandate brings with it a lot of expectations and responsibilities

00:54and it is now our job and our duty to live up to those expectations and fulfill those

01:00responsibilities. As far as the divide in the mandate, historically before the advent of the

01:09BJP and some regional parties here, Jammu and Kashmir was traditionally a two-party system.

01:14You had the national conference and the congress. The national conference used to win in the valley,

01:20they would win in the mountains of Jammu and Jammu plains would almost predominantly vote for

01:27congress. But Jammu and Kashmir survived, our politics survived, Jammu survived. That said,

01:34I have made it very clear in interview after interview that this is not a government of just

01:41the national conference or the congress. This is not just a government for people who voted for us.

01:47This is a government for every single individual of Jammu and Kashmir.

01:52That includes the people who either did not vote for us or didn't vote at all. Now,

01:57if I were to assume that because Jammu didn't give us seats or didn't vote for us,

02:02we would ignore them. By that same logic, then 70% of Srinagar also didn't vote. Does that mean

02:08this government refuses to recognize or work for 70% of Srinagar? Of course not. This government

02:15is a government for every individual of Jammu and Kashmir and we will ensure that everybody is

02:22heard and that everybody feels a part of this government. Okay, considering the mandate that

02:28people have given you from valley that was against BJP. So, will it be difficult to navigate with

02:34the party that said, you know, government at the center? Look, there is no common meeting ground

02:42between the national conference and the BJP. They don't agree with our politics.

02:46Now, you have to move on.

02:48No, they don't agree with our politics. I don't agree with theirs. And therefore,

02:53there is not going to be some discovery of newfound love between these two parties.

02:58That said, I'm drawing a distinction between the parties and the governments. The government of

03:04Jammu and Kashmir and the government of India owe it to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to try and

03:10work together for the benefit of Jammu and Kashmir. Now, we will continue to oppose the BJP.

03:17I expect the BJP will continue to oppose us. We will go at each other hammer and tongs in the

03:22assembly. But I would like to believe that as far as a working relationship between the state

03:28or between J&K and government of India is concerned, we can establish one.

03:33Considering the position of your party, does that bring a lot of challenge?

03:37Look, every government is a challenge.

03:42In this time, the challenges are more because we are navigating completely uncharted waters.

03:48We have never been a union territory. We have never had to share power like this with Raj Bhavan.

03:56So, that in itself is going to be a unique and learning experience for us.

04:01But I believe that our status as a union territory is a temporary one.

04:06See, unlike Delhi, nobody promised Delhi full statehood.

04:11Everybody knows Delhi is a hybrid model. It will remain a hybrid model.

04:15Jammu and Kashmir was a state. We have a commitment from no lesser person than the

04:19Prime Minister of India that Jammu and Kashmir will become a state again.

04:24Now, I believe that the people of Jammu and Kashmir reposed their faith in Indian democracy.

04:31The Prime Minister himself has complimented the people of Jammu and Kashmir

04:35for participating in these elections in large numbers.

04:38Not a single individual in Kashmir has said that they were forced to vote.

04:44Nobody dragged them out of their homes and took them to polling booths.

04:47Every single person who voted, voted because they wanted to vote.

04:52I believe they deserve some reward for this.

04:55And statehood is the sort of reward on which there are no differences.

05:00I could talk to you about 370. But 370 is a polarizing issue.

05:04I wanted to come to that.

05:05370 is a polarizing issue.

05:08370 is an issue on which not all parties agree.

05:12So, that's something the National Conference will pursue.

05:14You will pursue it?

05:15We will pursue it. We will pursue it.

05:16Look, there's no point pursuing it with the Narendra Modi government

05:21because they took it away from us.

05:23They're not going to give it back to us.

05:25But in future, governments change.

05:28This government will also change.

05:29But battle will continue.

05:31The battle of ideas, the battle of ideology, it is part of our political DNA.

05:36We're not going to change our DNA.

05:38But at the moment, I'm saying that statehood, let's call it low-hanging fruit.

05:42Because there are no differences on statehood.

05:45BJP wants statehood.

05:47National Conference wants statehood.

05:49Congress wants statehood.

05:50PDP wants statehood.

05:52People's Conference wants statehood.

05:54Independence wants statehood.

05:55I'm sure if you were to put a vote in the assembly tomorrow,

05:5990 out of 90 MLAs would say, yes, we want statehood.

06:03So, why not give JNK statehood?

06:05Okay.

06:06So, you have been at the helm of J&K before 10 years down the line.

06:10You were chief minister of a full-fledged state.

06:13Now, your party has won this majority and all.

06:17You will be forming the government.

06:18So, what challenges does it bring in?

06:21As I said earlier, this is a completely new...

06:24What lessons have you learnt?

06:26Well, I don't know whether any of the lessons we've learnt can be utilised...

06:29As a chief minister, because you have been at the helm of...

06:31That was a completely different situation.

06:34I, as chief minister, was responsible for law and order.

06:37Today, the chief minister will not be.

06:40Law and order, security, these are still the domain of the Raj Bhavan.

06:45So...

06:46Won't you fight for that?

06:47Because in 2010, I remember, you were all aghast about this thing.

06:53No, no, we are fighting...

06:54Look, there's no point fighting...

06:56J&K announced that lifting of curfew.

06:58There's no point fighting for...

06:58Then you went publicly and said, we are not puppets here.

07:01No, no, that's true.

07:01I'm sure that...

07:02There's no point fighting...

07:03For full-fledged same, powerful same.

07:06Which is, again, I'm coming back to my point.

07:09We're not going to fight for individual departments.

07:12What is the point?

07:13I'm not going to say, you know, let's be a UT but give us home.

07:17We want state.

07:18Okay.

07:19And we want a full-fledged state.

07:225th August 2019, what did the BJP say?

07:26This is to bring J&K at par with the rest of the country.

07:30At par means what?

07:32Means at par with Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Uttarakhand, UP, etc.

07:38That is what at par means.

07:40So, bring us at par.

07:43So, that means restoration of statehood is essential for that?

07:45Of course, it is.

07:46Okay.

07:47Recently, National Conference President Dr. Farooq Abdullah announced that

07:51National Conference will bring in a government which will be a public government,

07:54not a police state.

07:56He said, I quote him,

07:57he said, there will be public ki Sarkar, not police state.

08:00You know, how do you see this?

08:02Don't ask me to now qualify or quantify

08:05what the National Conference President has said.

08:07I think it's self-evident.

08:10We will not run a government through the barrel of a gun.

08:13We will not browbeat our citizens.

08:15We will not terrorize and scare our citizens.

08:18We will not weaponize the police department.

08:21That is what we mean.

08:22Will there be a shuffle of bureaucracy?

08:24Look, how much freedom as a journalist do you have to report?

08:28I want a question.

08:29Because many of our colleagues, Irfan Mehraj, Majid Haidri and recently this Asad.

08:34Look, I know, I know.

08:36Will the press see freedom under this new Umar-Ullah government?

08:39Not under Raj Bhawan.

08:41But under Umar-Ullah government, when there is...

08:43When there is a state, you will have as much freedom as you need.

08:47Now, I know I'm creating a problem for myself.

08:50Because I know editorials and articles will start being written,

08:54criticizing the government.

08:55But that's democracy.

08:57Unfortunately, you people have been denied democracy for six years.

09:02I'm waiting, once the government is formed,

09:05for our famous cartoonist Basheer Ahmed Basheer

09:08to start making cartoons about the government.

09:10Because the poor chap has not been able to make government cartoons for six years.

09:13All his cartoons have been about opposition.

09:16Will this fear end with the coming of this?

09:25Will people expect that there will be free press when Umar-Ullah comes back?

09:28They certainly should.

09:31From day one, this government will not criticize the media for doing their job.

09:37Unfortunately, home is not a subject with the elected government.

09:44And therefore, we will be constrained by how much freedom we can give you.

09:49But we will definitely press Raj Bhawan

09:51to give you more freedom than you've had up till now.

09:55One more thing is there.

09:58Post this in your manifesto, you had promised about certain things,

10:04be it 200 units of free electricity, other things, schemes for women and all.

10:09You know, when are these things coming up?

10:11We haven't even taken oath.

10:20Now, there are other things which seem difficult to navigate.

10:23Like you have talked about this, revoking this PSA and all.

10:27Again, I will make the point.

10:30And at the same time, when cases of...

10:32I'm sorry, but look, I can't keep repeating myself.

10:36We are not a state.

10:37We are a union territory.

10:39But it is a temporary status.

10:42Some things we will do as a union territory.

10:45Some things we will do as a state.

10:47People have given us a mandate for five years.

10:50Not five days.

10:51Not five weeks.

10:52Not five months.

10:53Five years.

10:55Give us five years.

10:56At the end of five years, we will put our report card in front of you.

11:00If you're not satisfied with what we've done, by all means, tell us.

11:04But before we've even assumed office,

11:07you can't start preparing our report card and saying,

11:09well, what are you doing about free electricity?

11:11What are you doing about gas?

11:12What are you doing about ration?

11:14And we haven't even entered the secretariat yet.

11:17Let us enter.

11:18At least let us sit behind the table.

11:21Then we will start working.

11:22I want to put your attention towards this PSA thing.

11:24And when these cases under UAPI are rising in Kashmir.

11:29I will, unfortunately, you're forcing me to repeat myself.

11:32But I will repeat myself again.

11:35Home is not the subject of the elected government today.

11:40It will be when we are a state.

11:43But it is not today.

11:44And therefore, these questions, unfortunately, will have to be posed to Raj Bhavan.

11:51You pose these questions.

11:52The day Jammu and Kashmir becomes a state,

11:55I will sit down in this very office with this very table.

12:00And I will answer all your questions with regard to security,

12:03law and order, policing, detentions, PSA, all that.

12:08But that is only possible when statehood is back.

12:12And we have a full-fledged government.

12:14One last question.

12:14What will be the first priority of National Conference government when it takes oath?

12:19The first thing we will do is to pass a resolution in the cabinet

12:24asking Government of India to restore statehood to JNK.

12:27Would NC pass a resolution on restoration of 317?

12:30Please wait for the legislative session.

12:33Legislative agenda is always different from government agenda.

12:38I am talking about government agenda today.

12:40As and when we have a legislative session, legislative agenda will be shared with you.

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