Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah addresses the media after a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in New Delhi, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday (December 19, 2024) met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. They discussed the restoration of Statehood for J&K, and the hurdles faced by the Union Territory’s newly elected government in the past two months.
This is the second time Mr. Abdullah has sought a meeting with the Home Minister since assuming office as the Chief Minister of J&K. Mr. Abdullah has been consistently broaching the demand to restore Statehood to J&K with the Centre.
“The meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere. Discussions on Kashmir’s situation, including the restoration of J&K’s Statehood, have been ongoing. It is hoped that these efforts will continue to benefit the people of J&K and lead to the restoration of its Statehood,” Mr. Abdullah said after the meeting.
Official sources said Mr. Abdullah had also discussed issues that needed “handholding of the Centre for effective governance” in J&K.
“The experience and the hurdles that we faced in the past two months, after taking over the reins following the formation of the popular government, also came up for discussion during the meeting,” Mr. Abdullah said.
Mr. Abdullah also clarified the reasons for the delay in the framing of the Transaction of Business Rules (TBR), which will define the roles of the Chief Minister, the Council of Ministers, and the Lieutenant-Governor in J&K.
“It is our matter. It has no relation to the Government of India. The TBR will be decided by J&K’s elected government and approved by the Cabinet and then sent to Lieutenant Governor,” Mr. Abdullah said, without divulging details on the status of the TBR.
Mr. Shah held the first security review of J&K since the formation of government in the Union Territory. The meeting was attended by J&K L-G Manoj Sinha, Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi, National Investigation Agency Director General Sadanand Date, Border Security Force Director General Daljit Singh Chaudhary, J&K Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, J&K Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, Assistant Director General of Police (ADGP)-Law and Order Vijay Kumar, and ADGP Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Nitish Kumar.
Official sources said a detailed security roadmap had been discussed to contain militancy and cross-border infiltration in J&K. Mr. Shah was briefed by top security officials on security, and fresh measures put in place in J&K to fight militancy and contain separatism.
Published – December 19, 2024 10:55 pm IST
