Underlining requirement of peace and stability in J&K, for every progressive path, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday said peace is a basic prerequisite for development, and the tourism and sports sectors to flourish in the Union Territory.
“For development, tourism or sports… we need peace for everything. If we talk about having day and night matches, and if the situation is not good, then who will come to play in the evening?” Abdullah told reporters here. He unveiled the jersey of Hummel and Real Kashmir FC at TRC Ground Srinagar.
“Peace is the foundation for everything. The message of today’s programme, the jersey, is also peace,” he added.Abdullah said the responsibility of establishing peace does not fall with him, and asserted that “those who are responsible, should fulfil their responsibility”.The chief minister said his government is targeted for everything that happens in Jammu and Kashmir, even as law and order is not its domain.
“At least there is something for which we cannot be held responsible because establishing peace is not the responsibility of my government yet. But, our government is targeted for everything,” he said. Pertinently, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had on Saturday said peace was the prerequisite for development in Jammu and Kashmir. Sinha also asserted that some remnants of terrorism remain in the Union Territory.
On the upgradation of the sports infrastructure, Abdullah said his government has a special focus on sports activities and sports infrastructure.“There is hardly any assembly segment where some sports infrastructure is not being built by our government. Infrastructure is being built after assessing the interest of the youth in each assembly segment,” he said.
The chief minister said his endeavour is to create sports infrastructure and then hand it over to the youth to utilise it.“Tournaments, race, etc, are being held at the district and sub-district level. The second edition of the Kashmir marathon is being held on November 2. I want to extend an invitation to the athletes from across the country, especially those who are interested in a half-marathon, to come to Srinagar and hope they will run with us on November 2,” he said.