'You can't STOP CHINA...': Omar Abdullah hits out at Centre after being denied access to Drass Dak Bungalow

SRINAGAR: National Conference leader and former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah has hit out at the Centre after being denied access during his recent Ladakh visit. Dras Dak Bungalow during his Ladakh tour. The NC leader said that he was unable to stay at the Drass Dak Bungalow during his Ladakh tour, which coincided with the Ladakh administration’s celebration of the Union Territory’s foundation day.  

His party also alleged that Omar wasn’t allowed to use a microphone during a function and stay at the Dak bungalow in Drass during his Ladakh visit. The venue of Omar’s event was later shifted to an adjacent place.

“The Kargil Administration told us we shouldn’t visit the place. Why are they afraid? You (Govt) can’t stop China and can’t push them back, but when we wanted to come from Srinagar via Dras to Kargil, they didn't allow us,” Omar Abdullah said on being denied access to Dras Dak Bungalow.

 

Administration told us we shouldn’t visit the place. Why are they afraid? You (Govt) can’t stop China & can’t push them back, but when we wanted to come from Srinagar via Dras to Kargil, they didn't allow us: NC's Omar Abdullah on being denied access to Dras Dak Bungalow (31.10) pic.twitter.com/UC4unYu6wa

— ANI (@ANI) November 1, 2022

 

This was Abdullah’s second visit to Ladakh, which was carved out as a separate Union Territory from J&K on August 5, 2019.

“One, it shows how shaky the administration is about its own decision to split J&K into two Union Territories. We had no plan for any public gathering or procession and even then, they resort to petty acts like mike snatching. Secondly, it shows how poor they are at basic hospitality,” Abdullah said. 

He said he was still a former Chief Minister and had a high-security categorisation too. Addressing party workers, he said Kargil and Leh had been separated from J&K and, “If they (the Centre) are heeding the demands of people of Kargil and Leh, then why they are shaky by our visit to the region?”

Abdullah’s close aide, Nasir Aslam Wani, who also spoke during the function organised by the NC, said the people of J&K had a “blood relation with the people of Kargil and Leh”. “It’s an old relationship. No boundary can end our relationship. We understand and share each other’s pain,” Wani said. 

The NC leader also said he wishes for the return of peace in Jammu and Kashmir so that all communities could live without fear. Recalling the communal bonhomie that existed in the erstwhile state before the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s, he said, "There was a time we were together and then a wave came and we separated".