Omar Abdullah: No Kashmiri Pandit Employee Homeless
Omar Abdullah: No Kashmiri Pandit Employee Homeless
Srinagar, Sep 10: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday asserted that not a single Kashmiri Pandit employee recruited under the Prime Minister’s package is homeless in Kashmir, and also defended the playing of full Vande Mataram at government functions saying the government is bound to fulfill its legal and statutory obligations.
The Chief Minister, as per news agency was responding to two separate controversies the ongoing protest by PM Package employees over transit accommodation at Press Colony Srinagar and the row over full rendition of Vande Mataram at the inaugural of International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir at SKICC on September 7.
Omar said the government has accelerated construction of 6,000 transit flats and not a single employee has been left without a roof. He said a large chunk of flats have already been allotted and remaining are being completed in a phased manner.
His statement came after PM Package employees set September 30 deadline for allotment of pending accommodation, threatening indefinite hunger strike and flagged security concerns after alleged threat posters.
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On the other hand, after J&K Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra objected to playing all six stanzas of Vande Mataram at the film festival where Omar and Farooq Abdullah stood at attention, the Chief Minister said government functions have to follow protocol.
National Conference chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said when Parliament has adopted it, playing Vande Mataram becomes a statutory obligation.
“NC has a clear stand. When Parliament has adopted it, playing Vande Mataram becomes a statutory obligation and that is what government did. We have to fulfil our legal and statutory duties,” Omar said, adding that government protocol has to be separated from party ideology.
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The NC also countered Congress by pointing to full renditions in Congress-ruled states like Karnataka and cited the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026 which grants Vande Mataram statutory protection and mandates full version at official events.
The BJP has welcomed Omar and Farooq Abdullah for standing through the full song, while Congress maintains its historic 1937 resolution of singing only first two stanzas to maintain communal harmony.(GNS)