Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, at the end of two days of hectic political battle in the assembly, said today that had the roadmap of Atal Bihari Vajpayee been followed, the state would have never been reduced to a Union Territory.
Speaking during the obituary references in the assembly, Mr Abdullah recalled that in 2000, when the assembly passed a resolution for greater autonomy to J&K which New Delhi had rejected during Vajpayee's prime ministership, "Vajpayee realised his mistake and he designated the then law minister to engage in a dialogue with the state government on the subject. But, as providence would have it, he passed away and that was it."
Recalling that it was Vajpayee who opened roads to connect the people of divided parts of J&K, he said the motive was to connect people and the civil society "so that a personal relationship is created".
"But unfortunately, the path and the roadmap shown by Vajpayee have been left midway and instead of connecting people, distances are being created... If Vajpayee's roadmap on J&K would have been implemented and followed, we would not have been where we are at present," he added.
Vajpayee, he added, was a great visionary, a towering personality who started the Lahore bus and went to Minar-e-Pakistan.
His slogan of 'Insaniyat, (humanity), Jamhuriyat (Democracy) and Kashmiriyat (identity of the Kashmiri people)' was full of vision and a reflection of his statesmanship.
"Perhaps, he was the first and last leader who raised this slogan", he said.