Bring back not only PoK but also J-K's part under China's occupation: Omar Abdullah

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said they would be grateful to the BJP-led government if alongside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) it also retrieves the part of the Union Territory (UT) under illegal occupation of China.

He came down heavily on the BJP leaders for accusing the National Conference (NC) of insulting Jammu and Kashmir's last ruler Maharaja Hari Singh and challenged them to give just one instance when the ruling party or any other Kashmir-based party insulted the Dogra ruler while the BJP disintegrated and downgraded his Muslim majority state.

"The foreign minister (S Jaishankar) is saying that we will get back the part of J&K which is under the occupation of Pakistan. Who has stopped them? Have we ever said that do not get it back?" the chief minister said, winding up the discussion on motion of thanks to Lt Governor Manoj Sinha's address in the Assembly here.

Jaishankar, speaking during a session at the Chatham House think-tank in London on Wednesday, said the Kashmir dispute would be solved after the "return of the stolen part of Kashmir which is under illegal Pakistani occupation".

Referring to the speech of BJP members in the House, he said the Congress was targeted for leaving Haji Peer in the Uri sector to Pakistan.

"During the Kargil war, there was an opportunity to get back PoK because it was Pakistan which attacked us. If you were so willing, you would have brought back that part but what stopped you? When you look at the map of Jammu and Kashmir, one part is also in China but you do not talk about it," he said.

He said when the BJP-led central government brings back PoK, they should also bring that part of J-K which is presently in China and "we will be grateful to you".

Countering the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in J-K Assembly and BJP leader Sunil Sharma for accusing the ruling party of insulting the Maharaja, he dared the opposition party to give him a single instance when the last Dogra ruler was insulted by NC or for that matter by the PDP and Congress.

"You have distorted the map of Maharaja by separating Ladakh from J&K and finishing his laws, especially related to land and jobs which were meant to provide safeguards to the people," he said.

Abdullah said the BJP is justifying the separation by saying that it was the long-pending demand of the people of Ladakh.

"Have you asked them? Have you tried to find out?

"From day one, the people of Kargil were against this decision. The Buddhists of Ladakh who distributed sweets are today of the opinion that they were better placed with J&K. They walked from Leh to Delhi to get back their rights," he said.

He said Himachal Pradesh is better placed because one has to give 70 per cent of jobs to the local population if someone sets up an industry or a hotel in the hilly state.

The chief minister also took a dig at the LoP for his "derogatory remarks" against the July 13, 1931 "martyrs" and said "though we have different political ideologies, they deserve respect for rising up against the autocracy and their sacrifice led to the formation of this Assembly".

July 13 was observed as a public holiday in Jammu and Kashmir to commemorate the 22 men who fell to the bullets of Dogra Maharaja's soldiers outside Srinagar central jail in 1931. The holiday along with the December 5 holiday to mark the birth anniversary of NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was, however, scrapped by the Lt Governor administration after the abrogation of Article 370.

"Their only fault was that they were Muslims. In the rest of the country, the people who rose against autocracy are respected and nobody can dub them as traitors,' he said.

Abdullah said whether July 13 and December 5 are declared holidays or not, it will not matter because the people respect them from their hearts.

Abdullah said in his last tenure as chief minister, he was also planning to lower the number of holidays and December 5 was also on his mind.

"We have never harmed the legacy of Maharaja. Have we changed the name of any institution which was named in the name of the Dogra rulers?" he said.