Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah warned the Centre that the stranded Kashmiris would die of starvation rather than the viral outbreak if they are made to stay away from home till May 3

Omar Abdullah said that he and his father, former three-time J&K CM Farooq Abdullah, have been flooded with calls and messages from Kashmiris stuck in various parts of the country, especially north India.

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)’s former chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader, Omar Abdullah, on Tuesday urged the central government to bring back hundreds of local residents stranded in other parts of the country because of the ongoing nationwide lockdown and even suggested the use of the Union Territory’s nine-seater Beechcraft aircraft for the evacuation. The lockdown has been enforced since March 25 and on Tuesday further extended till May 3 to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

Abdullah said that he and his father, former three-time J&K CM Farooq Abdullah, have been flooded with calls and messages from Kashmiris stuck in various parts of the country, especially north India.

“The stranded people include labourers, shawl traders, businessmen and also other walks of life who have been repatriated to India and have completed their quarantine. It’s been frustrating to not do as much, as one would have liked for them,” Omar tweeted.

“Now, that the Modi government is planning an extension to this lockdown something will have to be done for the people stuck in other states. A lot of them don’t have much money and can’t access anymore. There is no work available for them to earn,” he added.

Omar warned the Centre that the stranded Kashmiris would die of starvation rather than the viral outbreak if they are made to stay away from home till May 3.

“A common sentiment expressed by most of them had been ‘long before corona gets us we will die of hunger’. The government will have to work out some way of bringing these people home and pending that needs to do a better job helping them with food and emergency funds,” he said.

Omar suggested that the UT administration use its nine-seater Beechcraft aircraft to bring back some of the stranded Kashmiris home. He made the suggestion after Iltija Mufti, the daughter of another ex-J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti, had tweeted about 14 Kashmiri girls stuck in Amritsar because of the lockdown restrictions.

“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? The whole exercise will be completed in a matter of a few hours with support from @capt_amarinder Sahib,” he said, tagging Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh.

In a separate demand on Sunday, the elected representatives of Kargil, including the chairman of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, Feroz Ahmad Khan, threatened mass resignation if pilgrims and students of the Union Territory of Ladakh are not evacuated from Iran and other parts of the country within a week.

All elected representatives of Kargil, including the chairman and members of LAHDC, Kargil, district panchayat coordination committee (DPCC) and municipal committee Kargil (MCK) passed a three-point resolution and sent their charter of demand to Radha Krishna Mathur, the lieutenant governor of Ladakh.

The demands include the evacuation of pilgrims from Kargil who have completed their quarantine in Iran and students and other people from the UT stranded in other parts of the country. Besides, permission must be granted to move within Ladakh for stranded passengers and ensure unrestricted supply of essential commodities via the Zojilla Pass, as there have been traffic restrictions on national highways because of the ongoing nationwide lockdown.