Srinagar, August 15: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday announced to launch a large -scale signature campaign for the restoration of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, in which the signatures collected were presented in the Supreme Court.
Referring to the Supreme Court’s comments about the April Pahalgam terror attack during the hearing of a petition on the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said that it was “unfortunate” that the people of the region were being punished for a crime that had no role.
In his Independence Day address at Bakshi Stadium here, the Chief Minister said that the apex court had given eight weeks to respond to the government.
“From today, we will use these eight weeks to go to door-to-door in all 90 assembly segments for a signature campaign on the restoration of the state. If people are not ready to sign the document, I will accept the defeat,” he announced.
Abdullah stressed that these signatures should “reach the doors where the decision is taken” and confirmed that they would be presented in the Supreme Court.
The Chief Minister said that the mention of the Pahalgam terror attack in the court hearing was deep.
“Will Pahalgam and his master’s killers in the neighboring country decide whether we will be a state? Every time we get close to the state, they will do something to vandalize it. Is it appropriate? It is appropriate to be punished for a crime that had no role in we?” He asked.
He remembered that from Kathua to Kupwara, people voluntarily came out to oppose the Pahalgam attack, in which the terrorists killed 26 citizens – most of the tourists – on 22 April – at the Basararan meadow in Pahalgam in South Kashmir.
