00:00Hello and welcome to Outlook. Today we are at Jammu and Kashmir's Paul Street, we are at Gupkar
00:05and we are at Abdullah's. Abdullah's have the imprint on Kashmir's present, past and hopefully
00:12future as well. We are with the man of the moment, Omar Abdullah. Welcome to Outlook sir.
00:19Great win, big win, resounding win for your party. We have seen Kashmir again reposing faith on
00:25national conference and in Jammu we have seen people go on with a BJP. How do you see this
00:32and how do you navigate this? It's not an unusual situation. First and foremost, I'm humbled
00:39by the mandate that the national conference has received, that the alliance has received.
00:45I'm acutely aware that this mandate brings with it a lot of expectations and responsibilities
00:54and it is now our job and our duty to live up to those expectations and fulfill those
01:00responsibilities. As far as the divide in the mandate, historically before the advent of the
01:09BJP and some regional parties here, Jammu and Kashmir was traditionally a two-party system.
01:14You had the national conference and the congress. The national conference used to win in the valley,
01:20they would win in the mountains of Jammu and Jammu plains would almost predominantly vote for
01:27congress. But Jammu and Kashmir survived, our politics survived, Jammu survived. That said,
01:34I have made it very clear in interview after interview that this is not a government of just
01:41the national conference or the congress. This is not just a government for people who voted for us.
01:47This is a government for every single individual of Jammu and Kashmir.
01:52That includes the people who either did not vote for us or didn't vote at all. Now,
01:57if I were to assume that because Jammu didn't give us seats or didn't vote for us,
02:02we would ignore them. By that same logic, then 70% of Srinagar also didn't vote. Does that mean
02:08this government refuses to recognize or work for 70% of Srinagar? Of course not. This government
02:15is a government for every individual of Jammu and Kashmir and we will ensure that everybody is
02:22heard and that everybody feels a part of this government. Okay, considering the mandate that
02:28people have given you from valley that was against BJP. So, will it be difficult to navigate with
02:34the party that said, you know, government at the center? Look, there is no common meeting ground
02:42between the national conference and the BJP. They don't agree with our politics.
02:46Now, you have to move on.
02:48No, they don't agree with our politics. I don't agree with theirs. And therefore,
02:53there is not going to be some discovery of newfound love between these two parties.
02:58That said, I'm drawing a distinction between the parties and the governments. The government of
03:04Jammu and Kashmir and the government of India owe it to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to try and
03:10work together for the benefit of Jammu and Kashmir. Now, we will continue to oppose the BJP.
03:17I expect the BJP will continue to oppose us. We will go at each other hammer and tongs in the
03:22assembly. But I would like to believe that as far as a working relationship between the state
03:28or between J&K and government of India is concerned, we can establish one.
03:33Considering the position of your party, does that bring a lot of challenge?
03:37Look, every government is a challenge.
03:42In this time, the challenges are more because we are navigating completely uncharted waters.
03:48We have never been a union territory. We have never had to share power like this with Raj Bhavan.
03:56So, that in itself is going to be a unique and learning experience for us.
04:01But I believe that our status as a union territory is a temporary one.
04:06See, unlike Delhi, nobody promised Delhi full statehood.
04:11Everybody knows Delhi is a hybrid model. It will remain a hybrid model.
04:15Jammu and Kashmir was a state. We have a commitment from no lesser person than the
04:19Prime Minister of India that Jammu and Kashmir will become a state again.
04:24Now, I believe that the people of Jammu and Kashmir reposed their faith in Indian democracy.
04:31The Prime Minister himself has complimented the people of Jammu and Kashmir
04:35for participating in these elections in large numbers.
04:38Not a single individual in Kashmir has said that they were forced to vote.
04:44Nobody dragged them out of their homes and took them to polling booths.
04:47Every single person who voted, voted because they wanted to vote.
04:52I believe they deserve some reward for this.
04:55And statehood is the sort of reward on which there are no differences.
05:00I could talk to you about 370. But 370 is a polarizing issue.
05:04I wanted to come to that.
05:05370 is a polarizing issue.
05:08370 is an issue on which not all parties agree.
05:12So, that's something the National Conference will pursue.
05:14You will pursue it?
05:15We will pursue it. We will pursue it.
05:16Look, there's no point pursuing it with the Narendra Modi government
05:21because they took it away from us.
05:23They're not going to give it back to us.
05:25But in future, governments change.
05:28This government will also change.
05:29But battle will continue.
05:31The battle of ideas, the battle of ideology, it is part of our political DNA.
05:36We're not going to change our DNA.
05:38But at the moment, I'm saying that statehood, let's call it low-hanging fruit.
05:42Because there are no differences on statehood.
05:45BJP wants statehood.
05:47National Conference wants statehood.
05:49Congress wants statehood.
05:50PDP wants statehood.
05:52People's Conference wants statehood.
05:54Independence wants statehood.
05:55I'm sure if you were to put a vote in the assembly tomorrow,
05:5990 out of 90 MLAs would say, yes, we want statehood.
06:03So, why not give JNK statehood?
06:05Okay.
06:06So, you have been at the helm of J&K before 10 years down the line.
06:10You were chief minister of a full-fledged state.
06:13Now, your party has won this majority and all.
06:17You will be forming the government.
06:18So, what challenges does it bring in?
06:21As I said earlier, this is a completely new...
06:24What lessons have you learnt?
06:26Well, I don't know whether any of the lessons we've learnt can be utilised...
06:29As a chief minister, because you have been at the helm of...
06:31That was a completely different situation.
06:34I, as chief minister, was responsible for law and order.
06:37Today, the chief minister will not be.
06:40Law and order, security, these are still the domain of the Raj Bhavan.
06:45So...
06:46Won't you fight for that?
06:47Because in 2010, I remember, you were all aghast about this thing.
06:53No, no, we are fighting...
06:54Look, there's no point fighting...
06:56J&K announced that lifting of curfew.
06:58There's no point fighting for...
06:58Then you went publicly and said, we are not puppets here.
07:01No, no, that's true.
07:01I'm sure that...
07:02There's no point fighting...
07:03For full-fledged same, powerful same.
07:06Which is, again, I'm coming back to my point.
07:09We're not going to fight for individual departments.
07:12What is the point?
07:13I'm not going to say, you know, let's be a UT but give us home.
07:17We want state.
07:18Okay.
07:19And we want a full-fledged state.
07:225th August 2019, what did the BJP say?
07:26This is to bring J&K at par with the rest of the country.
07:30At par means what?
07:32Means at par with Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Uttarakhand, UP, etc.
07:38That is what at par means.
07:40So, bring us at par.
07:43So, that means restoration of statehood is essential for that?
07:45Of course, it is.
07:46Okay.
07:47Recently, National Conference President Dr. Farooq Abdullah announced that
07:51National Conference will bring in a government which will be a public government,
07:54not a police state.
07:56He said, I quote him,
07:57he said, there will be public ki Sarkar, not police state.
08:00You know, how do you see this?
08:02Don't ask me to now qualify or quantify
08:05what the National Conference President has said.
08:07I think it's self-evident.
08:10We will not run a government through the barrel of a gun.
08:13We will not browbeat our citizens.
08:15We will not terrorize and scare our citizens.
08:18We will not weaponize the police department.
08:21That is what we mean.
08:22Will there be a shuffle of bureaucracy?
08:24Look, how much freedom as a journalist do you have to report?
08:28I want a question.
08:29Because many of our colleagues, Irfan Mehraj, Majid Haidri and recently this Asad.
08:34Look, I know, I know.
08:36Will the press see freedom under this new Umar-Ullah government?
08:39Not under Raj Bhawan.
08:41But under Umar-Ullah government, when there is...
08:43When there is a state, you will have as much freedom as you need.
08:47Now, I know I'm creating a problem for myself.
08:50Because I know editorials and articles will start being written,
08:54criticizing the government.
08:55But that's democracy.
08:57Unfortunately, you people have been denied democracy for six years.
09:02I'm waiting, once the government is formed,
09:05for our famous cartoonist Basheer Ahmed Basheer
09:08to start making cartoons about the government.
09:10Because the poor chap has not been able to make government cartoons for six years.
09:13All his cartoons have been about opposition.
09:16Will this fear end with the coming of this?
09:25Will people expect that there will be free press when Umar-Ullah comes back?
09:28They certainly should.
09:31From day one, this government will not criticize the media for doing their job.
09:37Unfortunately, home is not a subject with the elected government.
09:44And therefore, we will be constrained by how much freedom we can give you.
09:49But we will definitely press Raj Bhawan
09:51to give you more freedom than you've had up till now.
09:55One more thing is there.
09:58Post this in your manifesto, you had promised about certain things,
10:04be it 200 units of free electricity, other things, schemes for women and all.
10:09You know, when are these things coming up?
10:11We haven't even taken oath.
10:20Now, there are other things which seem difficult to navigate.
10:23Like you have talked about this, revoking this PSA and all.
10:27Again, I will make the point.
10:30And at the same time, when cases of...
10:32I'm sorry, but look, I can't keep repeating myself.
10:36We are not a state.
10:37We are a union territory.
10:39But it is a temporary status.
10:42Some things we will do as a union territory.
10:45Some things we will do as a state.
10:47People have given us a mandate for five years.
10:50Not five days.
10:51Not five weeks.
10:52Not five months.
10:53Five years.
10:55Give us five years.
10:56At the end of five years, we will put our report card in front of you.
11:00If you're not satisfied with what we've done, by all means, tell us.
11:04But before we've even assumed office,
11:07you can't start preparing our report card and saying,
11:09well, what are you doing about free electricity?
11:11What are you doing about gas?
11:12What are you doing about ration?
11:14And we haven't even entered the secretariat yet.
11:17Let us enter.
11:18At least let us sit behind the table.
11:21Then we will start working.
11:22I want to put your attention towards this PSA thing.
11:24And when these cases under UAPI are rising in Kashmir.
11:29I will, unfortunately, you're forcing me to repeat myself.
11:32But I will repeat myself again.
11:35Home is not the subject of the elected government today.
11:40It will be when we are a state.
11:43But it is not today.
11:44And therefore, these questions, unfortunately, will have to be posed to Raj Bhavan.
11:51You pose these questions.
11:52The day Jammu and Kashmir becomes a state,
11:55I will sit down in this very office with this very table.
12:00And I will answer all your questions with regard to security,
12:03law and order, policing, detentions, PSA, all that.
12:08But that is only possible when statehood is back.
12:12And we have a full-fledged government.
12:14One last question.
12:14What will be the first priority of National Conference government when it takes oath?
12:19The first thing we will do is to pass a resolution in the cabinet
12:24asking Government of India to restore statehood to JNK.
12:27Would NC pass a resolution on restoration of 317?
12:30Please wait for the legislative session.
12:33Legislative agenda is always different from government agenda.
12:38I am talking about government agenda today.
12:40As and when we have a legislative session, legislative agenda will be shared with you.
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