Omar hits out at PDP-BJP for 'divisive agenda'

Former chief minister and National Conference working president Omar Abdullah today said the "divisive agenda" of PDP and BJP was the biggest challenge confronting Jammu and Kashmir.
Omar, who is on a two-day tour of Gurez, said the state government is "hell-bent" on dividing people on the basis of region and religion, to further a "long-held ideological goal" of the BJP and the RSS.
"The divisive agenda of the PDP-BJP government is the biggest challenge confronting the state and its people and National Conference would fight every necessary battle to protect the rights and interests of the people," Omar said while addressing public meetings in the area.

Be it Article 370 -- which grants the state a measure of autonomy -- or Article 35A -- which bars outsiders from holding land or government jobs in the state -- the PDP-BJP alliance had tried its best to facilitate one political intrigue after another against the people of the state, the former chief minister said.
"We have to be united across the length and breadth of the state to defeat these sinister designs at all costs. The people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are all united by a common resolve to protect our political and cultural identity and to uphold the integrity of the State," the 47-year-old said.

The leader of the Opposition in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly also pointed to the government's "glaring insensitivity" towards far-flung and border areas of the state.
Expressing disappointment at the state government's "failure" to dispense its most basic duties in Gurez, Omar alleged the people have been left without any mechanisms and systems to address basic public grievances.
Omar said his party had always cherished and nurtured a special bond with the people of Gurez ever since the time of Sher-e-Kashmir -- Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, a bond which was nurtured in all successive NC governments.