Mehbooba Should Accept Her Failure to Govern and Step Down: Omar

Srinagar, May 7 (PTI) National Conference leader Omar Abdullah today said Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti should accept her failure to govern and to handle the deteriorating situation in the state, and step down.

Youths across the state feel betrayed and are being pushed against the wall as the ruling PDP-BJP alliance has robbed them of hope while being solely obsessed with the goal of remaining glued to power, Omar told a public meeting in Kargil.

"As civilian killings, instability and violence seem to have become the norm in the state, the time has come for Mehbooba Mufti to accept her failure and the grave costs of PDP's sell-out. She should step down as the chief minister before the situation deteriorates any further," Omar said.

He said the government seems to be a mute spectator as the state is sliding back into "what appears to be another period of armed turmoil and instability".

"It is not enough that the chief minister regrets unabated civilian killings in the Valley while she continues to augment the sense of hostility and alienation among the youth. She cannot offer a solution as long as she continues to be the basis of what is happening in the state today,” the former chief minister said.

Omar said the youths of the state were at the receiving end of "flawed and dangerous policies" that hinged on a day-to-day operational management of the situation in the complete absence of constructive, engaging politics.

“There is an elephant in the room and PDP does not want to see it. It has shut its eyes to reality and continues to fuel the sense of resentment on the ground," he said.

Omar alleged that every single justification conjured up to stitch up the PDP-BJP alliance has fallen flat as one promise after another now stands exposed as "hollow and farcical".

"The same young men who were promised political engagement, reconciliation and empathy stand at the precipice of complete and total isolation. PDP's U-turn in 2014 has cost the state hundreds of precious young lives and the most tragic part is how the Chief Minister continues to be a mode of denial," he said.

Omar said every region of the state, including Kargil, Ladakh and Jammu, has seen the adverse ramifications of the "divisive, Machiavellian politics" that the PDP-BJP alliance seems to have made a cornerstone of its existence.

"People have been pitted against one another on the basis of region and religion to facilitate political dividends for the powers that be. The political vacuum in Kashmir is unprecedented and shocking," he added.

He said the government was not even pretending to engage with the youth and all promises of dialogue and reconciliation have turned out to be grand lies.

"If educated, employed young men are leaving the mainstream – the powers that be need to introspect and accept their predominant and prominent role in bringing things to this pass. Mere rhetoric and customary condemnations from the Chief Minister are futile and end up adding insult to injury," he said.

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