War of words has erupted between ruling J&K National Conference and opposition parties PDP , Peoples Conference over the report on 'reservation' which has been forwarded to Law Department for legal opinion. Political friction has arisen as opposition leaders are smelling 'foul' over what they contend as 'concealment' of CSC report.
As opposition is asking questions about reasons for not making the report public, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today launched scathing attack on former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and People’s Conference leader Sajjad Lone over their alleged double standards on the sensitive issue of reservation in government recruitment.Speaking to media, Omar Abdullah maintained that the report had been accepted and forwarded to the Law Department for further comments.
Taking jibe at Mehbooba Mufti, Omar said, “When she needed votes, she prohibited her party members from even mentioning reservations. When contesting from Anantnag and eyeing votes from Rajouri and Poonch, why didn’t she raise the issue of reservation then?”He also hit out at Sajjad Lone, questioning his silence during the PDP-BJP regime. “Sajjad Lone was close to the government for five years. We were thrown out of our government residences, our security was curtailed, while he was comfortably living in one. Why didn’t he raise concerns about reservation during that time?”
Defending the Sub-Committee’s work, Omar rejected allegations of delay. “If I wanted to waste time, I would have given them six more months. Would that have changed anything? Did anyone have the authority to force me to act faster?” he asked.The Chief Minister reiterated that the Cabinet had followed due process, stating, “The report is now with the Law Department, and their input will guide our next steps.”The comments mark a sharp escalation in political rhetoric over the issue of reservation, which continues to be a sensitive and polarizing topic in J&K politics.
Earlier, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and MLA from Pulwama, Waheed Ur Rehman Para, criticized what he stated as the “concealment” of the subcommittee’s reservation report in strong terms and urged the Jammu and Kashmir Government to table the report in the J&K Legislative Assembly, describing it as the House of the People.
He warned that if the report is not made public, “we will be left with no choice but to take this peaceful struggle for the rights of our youth to the streets across Jammu and Kashmir.”Para said that in a democratic setup, there is no space for secrecy, adding that democratic institutions derive their legitimacy from transparency and accountability.
In a post on X, Para said, “There is no room for secrecy in a democracy. Democratic institutions draw their legitimacy from transparency and accountability, not concealment.“The government has no legal or moral ground to withhold the subcommittee’s report on the rationalisation of reservation. By hiding this report, the NC government is abdicating its responsibility and keeping the people of J&K, especially its youth, in the dark. If this deliberate evasion continues, we will be left with no choice but to take this peaceful struggle for the rights of our youth to the streets across Jammu and Kashmir.” Para concluded the post
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