Srinagar: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was silent on Kashmiri students being targeted in various parts of the country.
Addressing the media, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister also said talks with Pakistan cannot be held in the backdrop of attacks such as the one in Pulwama last week. “Our PM has talked about a ‘muh tod jawab’ but such a reply is not possible in the current situation,” Abdullah said a week after 40 CRPF soldiers were killed in a terror attack in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.
Abdullah also asked Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik to ensure the security of Kashmiri students who were forced to return home following alleged threats and attacks in various parts of the country in the wake of the Pulwama terror strike. Referring to the withdrawal of security to Kashmiri separatist leaders, he said it was a regressive step and he was not aware of anybody misusing security.
When we talk of dialogue (to resolve Kashmir issue), we are branded anti-national,” Abdullah said. Condemning the withdrawal of security cover to mainstream politicians, Abdullah said, “Withdrawal of security to mainstream political workers and office bearers is a retrograde step that will only weaken political activity in the Kashmir Valley,” the National Conference leader said.
“At a time when mainstream political parties should be encouraged to step up their activities and build greater contact with people to counter the forces that have supported radicalisation and violence, this will have the opposite fallout,” he said.
Abdullah asked Governor Satya Pal Malik to reconsider the step. “If it is not revisited, we will approach the courts and ask them to intervene.
“I have no doubt this step was taken without taking into consideration inputs from central and state intelligence agencies which can only means it was been done for political purposes and there is an element of pick and choose at play here,” he added.
