National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Thursday said the current grave situation of alienation and hopelessness in J-K was a gift of the “failed” PDP-BJP Government in the State and PDP’s rank opportunism that had pushed the State into the throes of instability, misery and turmoil.

Addressing a party workers’ convention at Baramulla in Kashmir on Thursday, Omar Abdullah said the prolonged delay by the Central and the State Government in taking a political initiative despite repeated red flags and deterioration of the situation in Kashmir was unfortunate and had eroded the dividends of a hard-earned peace and stability that had been achieved in the State.

“Why are educated young men choosing the gun over their dreams of employment and a successful, bright future? Doctoral scholars and professors are picking up the gun while the rhetoric of the incumbent Government defies ground reality. This is a trend that started after 2014 once PDP bartered its mandate to come to power,” he said.

“The consequences of PDP’s U-turn and betrayal are being borne by the youth of this State who have been left disillusioned and isolated from the system. We worked very hard during our tenure in power to wean away the youth from alienation and militancy and channelise their talent towards entrepreneurship, industry and employment generation. Unfortunately the current ruling dispensation has left no stone unturned to waste those dividends of peace and stability and has pushed the youth of the State into a corner”, the NC Vice President said while addressing the convention.

“There are people who ask us why a ceasefire wasn’t announced during our previous Government that preceded the present PDP-BJP Government. The fact of the matter is that there was almost no militancy in the State at that time – local boys were not picking up the gun and joining militant ranks,” said Abdullah.

“Today you have dozens of innocent civilians who have been killed around encounter sites, grenade attacks have become a norm and the people are reeling under a sense of anxiety that is both palpable and unprecedented. The ceasefire initiative which we demanded and supported should have come much earlier and we have been demanding a political initiative since 2016, the NC leader said.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a strong mandate in the Parliament to act. He had the power and the leverage to take a bold initiative on Kashmir as unlike past Prime Ministers, he wasn’t as constrained by compulsions. Unfortunately four years have been wasted and no breakthrough has been achieved. While the Ramzan ceasefire was a welcome move, one needs to wonder what happens after Ramzan ends? In the absence of a follow-up initiative that take the ground realities into account – we will yet again fail to rise to the occasion in acknowledging the slide in Kashmir and our responsibility to stem it”, the National Conference Vice President added.