Srinagar: President of National Conference and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah on Monday cried 'negligence' meted out to Jammu which, he said, was 'overlooked' as the G20 destination whereas other places were picked as venues of the meet. He also opposed the decision of the Jammu and Kashmir Housing Board to allot flats to non-locals in Jammu.
On organising a G20 meeting in Kashmir, he said," If G20 meetings are held in Kashmir and Ladakh, then why Jammu was left out?". In response to a question asked by ETV Bharat correspondent Mohd Ashraf Ganie on providing flat-apartments in Jammu and Kashmir to people from outside the state, Farooq Abdullah questioned the sincerity of leaders, who had once demanded schemes for Jammu, are now keeping mum on issues which are integral to the people of Jammu.
"I want to know where are those leaders, who would raise a hue and cry over Centre's treatment of Jammu and used to clamour for schemes for local people? They promised to fight for the people of Jammu and talked about Dogras who are left in the lurch now," Abdullah said.
Taking a serious note of the issue, Abdullah said there is a move to allot flats to non-locals in Jammu by the Jammu and Kashmir Housing Board. He also accused the Centre of going full throttle with plans to settle outsiders in Jammu. Taking a potshot at those leaders, who are 'silent' on issues which are associated with people's lives, the leader said their silence has unmasked them and raised questions about their intention.
The Jammu and Kashmir Housing Board, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) mission, will allot 336 flats to citizens who have migrated to Jammu temporarily or permanently from different parts of the country.
On Sunday, former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti alleged that youths are being arrested ahead of the G20 meeting to be held in Srinagar next month from May 20 to 23.PDP president alleged that in the name of the G20 meeting, hundreds of local youth have been taken into custody.
Mufti asked if the situation has improved in J&K, then why are common people harassed? Mufti termed the incident of Poonch incident, in which five army men were killed, as unfortunate. “We hope that it will be investigated how this incident took place in a high-security zone where there is a strong presence of the army. A proper investigation should take place on how this incident happened,” she said.
