Shopian, May 11: Senior Jammu and Kashmir cabinet minister Sakina Itoo on Monday questioned the central government over the continued delay in restoring statehood to the Union Territory.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function held to pay tributes to veteran National Conference leader Sheikh Mohammad Mansoor, who was killed by militants on this day in 1990 in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, Itoo said that if the Centre maintains that normalcy has returned to Jammu and Kashmir, there is no justification for further delay in restoring statehood.
She said the central government had earlier committed that statehood would be restored after delimitation and elections. “It was the commitment of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister,” she said. She added that after the formation of the present government, the first resolution passed in the cabinet was on statehood, followed by resolutions in the Assembly on the restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A.
She further said that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is making efforts to ensure that statehood is restored as soon as possible. “Statehood is the right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir; we are not begging for it,” she said.
Paying tributes to Mansoor, Itoo said that more than 3,500 National Conference workers were killed and that the party had gathered to remember its “martyred workers.”
Referring to the recent action against SirajulUloom, Itoo clarified that the institution’s closure was ordered by the Home Department and not by her government.
“The SirajulUloom has been closed by the Home Department. We have not closed it, nor have we ordered its closure,” she said.
She added that the education department had already been directed to ensure that affected students are accommodated in other institutions.
“As far as students are concerned, I have already asked the education department to adjust them wherever they can. They are our own children,” she said.
