Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Thursday said that the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir is far from normal more than five years after the abrogation of Article 370.
Abdullah said the normalcy in the Union Territory, as claimed by the BJP government at the Centre, is not organic, but forced, citing instances in support of his argument.
“If what is happening in Jammu and Kashmir is organic, nothing like it. If it is driven out of fear, then you have a problem,” Abdullah said during the Red Mike Dialogues in New Delhi.
He was responding to a question on the recent reduction in shutdowns and militant activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Because you can only control a situation out of fear for a limited time…. If people (centre) believed that it was organic, then they wouldn’t have to close Jama Masjid in Srinagar and not allow Mirwaiz to take part in funeral prayers of his father-in-law. This is because they feared a law and order situation would break out. A law and order situation will break out when normalcy is not organic. It breaks out when normalcy is forced. And therefore, what you have in Jammu and Kashmir today is a forced normalcy,” Abdullah said.
The authorities today denied permission to Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to lead the funeral prayers of his father-in-law at historic Jama Masjid in Srinagar.
Abdullah also cited Mirwaiz’s CRPF cover as an indicator that the situation in the Union Territory is not normal.
“Mirwaiz’s security is again an indicator that things are not normal (in Jammu and Kashmir). If you need to protect Mirwaiz with the CRPF, how can you claim normalcy?” Abdullah asked while responding to questions at the event.
Earlier this week, Abdullah faced backlash for his remark linking Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s CRPF security cover to the improved situation in the union territory after the abrogation of Article 370. On Thursday in New Delhi, Abdullah said his comments on Mirwaiz’s security were misinterpreted.
“It means that the threat to the Mirwaiz has increased and not decreased. It means the ability of militants to strike has gone up and not down,” Abdullah said on Thursday.
“The fact that the Mirwaiz has to be protected by the same commandos that protect your national leaders like the home minister, Rahul Gandhi and others, would suggest that the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir is far from normal. So yes, halaat badle hain, behtar huven hai who doosri baat hai (yes things have changed, but for good is another matter,” he said.
“And the fact that you need to protect Mirwaiz with the CRPF would suggest that the situation has not improved. We did not need to give Mirwaiz CRPF protection when I was chief minister (previous term). We protected him with Jammu and Kashmir Police. Has the situation declined so badly? And if it has, then give us security and law and order, we will bring it back to a point where Mirwaiz will not need a CRPF security cover,” Abdullah said.
