CM vows to take up statehood restoration with PM, HM

Srinagar, Dec 5: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Thursday said he would take up the issue of restoring statehood to J&K with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

“The prime minister and the home minister were busy with elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. But now that they have time, this issue will be taken up so that J&K’s statehood is restored soon,” he told reporters after attending a function to commemorate the 42nd foundation day of Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) here.

The foundation for the tertiary care hospital was laid on the birth anniversary of National Conference (NC) founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah on this day in 1982, less than three months after his demise.

On whether the holiday on the NC founder’s birth anniversary will be restored, the CM said that many things needed to be brought back in J&K, but the priority was to restore its statehood first.

“There are many other dates, but we have to fight a bigger contest. We have to fight for the restoration of J&K’s statehood. We are hopeful that the Prime Minister will keep his promise made not to us, but to the people of J&K during the Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly polls that followed,” he said. “The elections saw huge participation of people. There were no complaints of people being forcibly taken to the booths. Rather, they went on their own and made the elections a huge success with the hope that the promises made to them, especially on restoring J&K’s statehood, will be fulfilled.”

On the importance of SKIMS Hospital, CM Omar said it was built so that people of J&K do not feel the need to go to other tertiary care institutes like the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh or All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.

“This hospital has served the people of J&K. Yet, there are some weaknesses and shortcomings. The autonomy of SKIMS, along with its engineering wing, must be restored,” he said.