J&K wouldn’t be in current situation with Vajpayee’s approach: Omar Abdullah

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee “always tried to improve the situation in Jammu and Kashmir” and the Union Territory would not have been in the current situation if the Centre adopted his approach today, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Monday.
“When Vajpayee went to Pakistan in 1999 on the maiden Delhi-Lahore bus, he visited Minar-e-Pakistan which ‘was not easy to do’, Abdullah said during obituary references in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
“Then, he stood at the border and said we can change friends but not the neighbours. Vajpayee said dialogue was the only way out. He repeatedly extended the hand of friendship despite facing setbacks,” he added.
The Chief Minister said Vajpayee would always be remembered for his attempts to restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir and listed out his steps to improve cross-border relations.
“I have known him (Vajpayee) and worked with him as a minister in his council. When we remember Vajpayee, we remember him with reference to Jammu and Kashmir. He always tried to improve the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. He tried to ease the tension,” he said.
“He worked to open the cross-LoC routes which were later closed again. He wanted to bring people across closer. He tried to bring civil society closer. Today attempts are made to keep us apart,” he added.
Abdullah said had Vajpayee’s approach been adopted, Jammu and Kashmir would not have been “in the situation it is in”. “After he left, his approach was forgotten. The design he had given was forgotten. What can we do?” he further said.
Referring to CPI-M MY Tarigami’s remarks about the autonomy resolution brought by the then National Conference government in the Assembly in 2000, Abdullah said while it is true that the resolution was sent back, “Vajpayee realised it later that the government had reacted in a hurry”.
“So, he appointed senior minister Arun Jaitley to hold talks with the Jammu and Kashmir government on it,” Abdullah said, adding it would be difficult to disagree with Vajpayee’s intentions on the erstwhile state.
The Chief Minister said there were 45 people on the obituary list with whom he has worked or were known to him, and went on to mention a few.
Paying tributes to Pranab Mukherjee, Abdullah said there was a lot to learn from the former president’s life. “Mukherjee did not have Godfathers and was not parachuted into politics. He worked hard,” Abdullah said, adding that he did justice with all the posts he held.
He also paid tributes to former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and others, including his former colleague and BJP leader Devendra Singh Rana who died last week.
Speaking of Rana, who was once with the National Conference, Abdullah said, “If there is one colleague I was sad about losing, it was Rana. In the election heat, we said bitter things. But, I did not know he was so ill. Had I known, I would have tried to improve our relations.”
He also recalled his close political association with Rana over 20 years and praised him for fulfilling all his responsibilities, both in the National Conference and the BJP, with dedication.