SRINAGAR: NC’s protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Monday, led by party president Farooq Abdullah and CM Omar Abdullah, seeking restoration of statehood, drew scathing criticism from other political parties in J&K.While BJP accused the CM and his ministers of being away from the UT even as flash floods wreaked havoc, PDP said the sit-in was completely eclipsed by the CJP protest and asked Omar to emulate Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk.“When floods have affected both Jammu and Kashmir regions, the govt should have been here with the people. The protest could have been postponed,” BJP spokesperson Sajid Yousuf Shah said, adding: “The CM should have stayed here along with his ministers to supervise relief efforts instead of attending a show in Delhi.”PDP’s Iltija Mufti described the NC protest as a “lacklustre, deliberately understated and soft-pedalled” one-day event. Her party’s Waheed Parra said the governing party should learn from Wangchuk, who mobilised youths and saw thousands rally in solidarity over the NEET issue. A man without the machinery of govt built a movement, while J&K govt with all the machinery had struggled to build one, he added.However, CPM legislator M Y Tarigami expressed full support to the NC protest. “Its purpose is to remind the Govt of India to fulfil its repeated assurances regarding the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
