J&K CM Omar Abdullah (PTI file photo)
NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said the National Conference’s planned protest in Delhi on July 20 over the delay in restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir will go ahead as scheduled, though the venue or the format of the demonstration may change.He, however, declined to describe the delay in getting permission for the protest as sabotage or an attempt to divert attention.”I will not go into whether it is a sabotage, diversion or anything else. You and I both understand it. Our programme will not change, the venue or the mode may change, but the programme to go to Delhi will not change,” Abdullah told reporters.The chief minister said the party would not hold the protest discreetly or in a private space.”Had that been the case, we would have held it in the lawns of our house. But we will go to Delhi and raise our voice there somehow. Then see what is to be done in the future,” he added.The ruling National Conference has announced a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar on July 20, the opening day of the Monsoon session of Parliament, to “remind” the Centre of its promise to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
