Omar Abdullah dares Mehbooba Mufti to sue him if he is wrong on Sainik Colony issue

Srinagar: As the issue of setting up a separate residential colony for serving and ex-servicemen and their families in Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar is snowballing into a major political controversy, former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, on Monday dared the present incumbent Mehbooba Mufti to sue him in a court of law if his relevant statements are wrong.

“If you haven't filed a case against me in the next 24 hours the people will know who is lying in this matter @mehbooba_mufti. Truth prevails,” Mr. Abdullah wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.com. Earlier he posted a picture of an official document which was used by The Indian Express in its story about the proposal of Sainik Colony and tweeted “If you have the guts & truly believe this image is fake file a case against me in the nearest police station TODAY!!”

Ms. Mufti soon after arriving to a ceremonial 'guard of honour' at Civil Secretariat here on the reopening of ‘Darbar’, the biannual office move in the summer capital, earlier during the day had asked Mr. Abdullah “not to repeat his mistake today”. Elaborating, she told the reporters that the opposition National Conference (NC) working president was not a common man but has been the Chief Minister of the State for six years. “I only hope that Omar does not repeat his mistake today in which he has referred to some papers (about Sainik Colony),” she said.

The NC, CPIM and a few regional mainstream parties and Kashmiri separatists have strongly opposed allotment of land for setting up residential colonies for armed forces personnel in Srinagar or elsewhere in Jammu and Kashmir, asserting any such move would be seen as a deliberate attempt on part of the government to change the demography of the State. “Sainik Colony could be a ruse to settle non-state subjects in the Valley and hence will bypass Article 370,” Mr. Abdullah asserted last week.

But Ms. Mufti on Monday accused him of spreading “false” information among the people. “Omar Abdullah himself was the chief minister of the state. He knows that neither a chief minister nor a prime minister of the country can dilute the special status of Jammu and Kashmir,” she said.

The Jammu and Kashmir authorities had while moving on a proposal fast-tracked when the State was under Governor’s rule earlier this year asked the concerned officials to identify land in Srinagar and neighbouring Budgam district for Sainik colonies to house troops and their families. Earlier in April 2015, the Rajya Sainik Board (RSB), headed by Governor N. N. Vohra, had approved establishment of a Sainik colony close to Srinagar’s old airport and subsequently 21.6 acres of land were identified for it and the proposal was sent to then Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, for his approval.

In August last year, the board sent a second note to the State’s Home Department, seeking more land as 26 senior officers, 125 junior commissioned officers and over 900 soldiers had applied for allotting them plots of land in the proposed colony, requiring a total of 44 acres of land. In turn the Home Department sent letters to the deputy commissioners of Srinagar and Budgam asking them to “furnish requisite information” regarding the allotment of land “at the earliest.”

The idea of setting up Sainik colonies in Srinagar and elsewhere had actually been mooted by BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Tarun Vijay in May last year to accommodate soldiers and families of those killed in the line of duty. Later Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, told Parliament that since allotting land was a state subject the matter has been forwarded to Jammu and Kashmir government.