CM Omar Abdullah raises alarm over use of force on protestors in PoJK

Srinagar: Omar Abdullah on Thursday expressed concern over the use of force on protestors in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), and hoped that peace would be maintained. "As far as the situation in that part of Kashmir is concerned, we are all worried," the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said while speaking with reporters in Ganderbal district. "The reports coming from there, the way force is being used and innocent people are being targeted -- we can only hope that peace is maintained there," he added. Asked if the protest by the National Conference in Delhi on July 20 over the issue of statehood had yielded any results, Abdullah said a single protest would not bring results. "If results came out of one protest, then all the issues raised by the Cockroach Janta Party would have been resolved when they held their first protest there for a single day," he said. The chief minister said his party held the demonstration in Delhi "knowing that we won't gain anything from the very first protest". "But at least we are marking our stance. At least you people (mediapersons) keep asking us about statehood, but the rest of the country's media forgets that a promise was made to Jammu and Kashmir which has not been fulfilled yet." On the opposition PDP's announcement of holding protests across the Union territory on August 5, Abdullah said his party did not wait for August 5, and went to Delhi to raise the issue. "This August 5 protest has now become a compulsion for those people. We didn't wait, we went to Delhi earlier. We got our resolution passed in the assembly. The assembly has passed a resolution regarding Jammu and Kashmir's special status and constitutional guarantees and sent it to the Centre," he said. Earlier in the day, the chief minister inspected various development works in Ganderbal -- the constituency he represents.