Our state suffered for country's sake: Omar

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that clubbing the state with the category of hilly and geographically difficult states for extending central financial support and industrial package falls short of justice to the people of this part of the country.

“Jammu and Kashmir has borne the brunt of militancy, and experienced saga of miseries and loss of precious human lives to safeguard the country,” Omar said at a seminar organised by Assocham in Jammu.

“The state was injured to protect the country, and this truth needs to be borne in mind while extending central support to it for development and growth,” he said.
He said militancy is against the entire nation and the state is a theatre for enemies to operationalise their designs.

“We have scarified life, property and have undergone tremendous downward dip in economy. The progress of the state has come to a standstill, and thousands of youth have been left jobless,” Omar added.

He said that in order to help the state overcome industrial backwardness and economic shortcomings, the central government should announce a rail coach factory in the state as it has done in Punjab.

He emphasised on transfer of Salal, Dulhasti and Uri power projects to the state, and stressed on granting support to the state, designed specifically for its specific needs.
“When the entire country was reaping the benefits of liberalisation of industrial policy, Jammu and Kashmir was fighting militancy for the country.

Justice demands that we should be compensated and that too substantially for this reason,” Omar said.

“Do not take us at par with other states. We have been on the forefront to safeguard the country. We have sacrificed for the nation. Do not place us in the category of hilly states when the question of extending help to Jammu and Kashmir arises.”

Omar said micro, small and medium enterprise sector has bravely withstood turbulence associated with militancy.