Srinagar, Apr 14: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday urged the government to somehow bring home those stranded outside the Union Territory and help them with food and emergency funds as most of them feel that “long before Coronavirus they will die of hunger.”
‘Over the last few weeks, since the lockdown was first announced, my father & I have been flooded by calls & WhatsApp messages from Kashmiris stuck in various parts of the country, especially North India,’ Omar Abdullah, who is the Vice-President of National Conference (NC), wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.
He said now that the Modi government has extended the lockdown, something will have to be done for people stuck in other states. ‘A lot of them don’t have much money and can’t access any more. There is no work available for them to earn off,’ he said.
“A common sentiment expressed by most of them had been ‘long before Corona gets us, we will die of hunger’. The Govt will have to work out some way of bringing these people home & pending that needs to do a better job helping them with food & emergency funds,” he further tweeted.
Reacting to a tweet by Iltija Mufti, daughter of former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, about 14 Kashmir girls stranded at Amritsar, Omar Abdullah said J&K has a nine-seater beechcraft aircraft that isn’t doing much these days.
“Why can’t this plane make two sorties to Amritsar to fly these girls back home,” he asked.
He said the whole exercise will be completed in a matter of a few hours with support from Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
