SRINAGAR, July 16: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today clarified that the Modi government will fulfill its promise and restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at “an appropriate time”.
“Union Home Minister had said that first, there will be delimitation, second, assembly polls will be held, and thirdly, statehood would be restored at the appropriate time. At the time of delimitation, many people were raising doubts. Ultimately, it happened. The assembly election also happened peacefully. There was a lot of voting, and an elected government was also formed. Now the third question is statehood. I think he has said it in Parliament. So in a way, it is an assurance given in the Parliament that it will be fulfilled. But he used a word, at the appropriate time,” Sinha told The Week in an interview.
LG Sinha noted that the Prime Minister on Yoga Day last year, too, reiterated that the statehood will be restored. “So I think that the government of India will respect the assurances. When will it happen? I think we all should wait for this a little,” he said.
On the relationship with the Omar Abdullah government, he said they have also placed the demand of statehood before him. “My relationship with them is fine. And as far as the question of powers is concerned, either in the State Reorganization Act, which was made by the Parliament, the powers and working areas of us, that is, the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister, and the elected government, are completely defined. And I think if there is any confusion, correspondence is going on. We will solve that too soon. One thing I definitely want to say is that I know my limits, and I will never do anything beyond that. We keep meeting. I meet CM quite often. I met him on many occasions,” he said.
He said Naya Kashmir means there are no hartal calendars, no stone pelting, and no terror recruitment. “There is only an academic calendar now. After 33-34 years, the Muharram procession is being taken. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians are celebrating their festivals together with joy. The economy has doubled. So this is what I think is the New Kashmir, He said
LG Sinha said peace, prosperity, and progress have not gone down well with Pakistan, however. “And it has deliberately started sending terrorists. I think terrorism is its state policy. So it has started sending terrorists. The security forces are working diligently on that too. Many people have been killed. But I believe it is a big achievement that where 100-125 local people used to join terrorism or become terrorists, this year, only one recruitment has taken place. Last year, there were six or seven such recruitments. This shows that due to the progress of five-six years, people’s faith has been restored. People have become more stakeholders in peace. Prosperity has brought about a change in people’s lives. I believe that there has been a historic change in the last five-six years,” he said.