Anantnag: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Sunday demanded that the identity of the killers of two migrant labourers in Kulgam and a policeman in Anantnag be made public.
He also asked the authorities where the terrorists were coming from and expressed deep concern over the prevailing situation in Kashmir; holding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responsible for the current circumstances and questioning the government’s claims of improved security.
“They (administration) should tell people who are carrying out these killings. All we are told is that terrorists killed them. The question is where the terrorists are coming from when all the borders are sealed,” Abdullah told reporters in the Bijbehara area of Anantnag district.
The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir said it was imperative to unmask the killers to test the Lieutenant Governor’s claim that terrorism has ended in the Valley.
“Let us and the whole world see who these killers are. Has terrorism ended? You can see how much the situation has changed,” he said, referring to the change in status quo since the 2019 abrogation of Article 370.
Abdullah also demanded the Centre restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
The NC leader also accused the BJP of destroying the Union Territory, which was a state before 2019.
Condemning the killing of innocent people, Abdullah said that violence can never be a solution to any problem and described such incidents as highly condemnable.
He further said that since the abrogation of Article 370, the government has consistently claimed that normalcy has returned to Jammu and Kashmir, but the recent incidents, according to him, contradict those assertions.
“After the abrogation of Article 370, we were repeatedly told that the situation in Kashmir had improved. However, today’s reality is before everyone,” he said.
When asked who he held responsible for the present situation in Kashmir, Abdullah directly blamed the BJP, stating, “Whatever has happened in Kashmir, the BJP is responsible. They have destroyed the entire house.”
He made these remarks while interacting with the media during his visit to Bijbehara in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
On the situation in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, he expressed surprise at the silence of the global community on the matter.
“They (PoJK people) are our brothers, and we are pained by what they are going through. The United Nations has a Human Rights Commission. They should send a delegation there to assess the situation first hand. While the global silence is surprising, our own country has not said anything about it,” he added.
Regional elections underway in PoK have been marred by violence, with several lives lost.
JAAC, a banned collective of activist groups, has been staging demonstrations for nearly two months over 12 contentious seats of the so-called legislative assembly in PoK.
