Srinagar, Sep 05: Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference president Sajad Gani Lone has questioned the political consistency of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s recent public engagements, particularly the contrast between protests in Srinagar and his subsequent meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
Lone, in a statement, questioned the timing and political messaging of the events, referring to the National Conference and BJP being engaged in separate street protests in Srinagar on September 2, followed by Omar Abdullah’s meeting with Shah in New Delhi on September 4.
“CM sahib it seems has no sense of timing,” Lone said, referring to the sequence of events.
He said the visuals from the September 2 protests conveyed “assertiveness and defiance”, with senior leaders seen engaging with protesters and raising slogans. Lone said the developments had initially led him to believe that the political confrontation could take a more serious turn.
However, he questioned the rationale behind the protests in Srinagar when the Chief Minister met Shah two days later in New Delhi.
“If CM sahib had to pose with HM sahib on the 4th of September in Delhi, why indulge in the theatre of the absurd and do all the song and dance in Srinagar on the 2nd of September?” he asked.
Lone also questioned whether the contrasting political postures risked undermining the credibility of the leadership and its public protests.
He further criticised what he described as the diminishing significance of protests in Kashmir, arguing that an institution historically associated with political and economic movements across the world had increasingly been reduced to symbolic demonstrations and photo opportunities.
“The institution of protest, which has ushered in economic and political revolutions worldwide, has been literally assaulted here in Kashmir and rendered unrecognisable. It has been relegated to photo ops in Kashmir,” Lone said.
He concluded by questioning the political judgment behind the sequence of events, saying, “Common sense it seems is not very common.”
