‘Dual character’: Lt Governor vs J&K government over Foundation Day boycott

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday boycotted the Union Territory’s Foundation Day celebrations, sparking a war of words between the Omar Abdullah-led government and the Lieutenant Governor.
The ruling coalition, comprising the National Conference and Congress, announced they would not attend the event in Srinagar, asserting that they do not recognise Jammu and Kashmir as a Union Territory.
Responding to the government’s decision, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha criticised the National Conference and Congress, accusing them of “dual character” for taking an oath under the Constitution yet boycotting the official celebration.
“I am seeing that those who took oath as MLA of a Union Territory and often refer to the Constitution of India (are not here). The ground reality is that it is a UT today. When it will be made a state, and we want it to be a state, we will celebrate statehood foundation day as well. This shows their dual character,” the Lt Governor said as he addressed the Union Territory’s fifth Foundation Day.
The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised into Union Territories in 2019 following the abrogation of Article 370, which revoked the state’s special status.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha described the past five years as “an era of peace, prosperity, and development”.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asserted that Jammu and Kashmir would not remain a Union Territory for long, pledging to “restore its dignity”.
“We will get our statehood back,” he emphasised, adding that while his government would work to meet the people’s needs for electricity, roads, water, and employment, “if we cannot live with dignity and if there is no respect for our identity, then all these things are meaningless”.
Congress state president Tariq Hameed Karra echoed Abdullah’s sentiments, stating, “In J&K, any sensitive person who understands the difference between a Union Territory and a state will never celebrate this day. The Congress has never recognised J&K as a Union Territory in our hearts, and we continue to fight for statehood”.
Several leaders, including Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP, People’s Conference leader Sajad Gani Lone, and CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, also boycotted the program.
Mufti labelled Foundation Day a “black day” for Jammu and Kashmir, saying it symbolised “disenfranchisement, not development”.
“What has happened to J&K is unprecedented. I want to tell the LG that, for the people of J&K and particularly for the PDP, today is a black day, and it will remain so until J&K’s special privileges are restored,” Mufti told reporters in Pulwama.