Lt Governor’s Failure Took Us To Brink Of War”: Omar Abdullah On Pahalgam

New Delhi:

The gloves came off Monday morning after police manhandled Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to stop him from entering the Martyr’s Graveyard in Srinagar to pay tribute to Kashmiri protesters killed by Maharaja Hari Singh’s Dogra forces on July 13, 1931.

Visibly furious, Mr Abdullah spoke to NDTV shortly after videos of police almost assaulting his ministerial colleagues and him made headlines, and repeatedly ripped into the ruling BJP, attacking the “idiots” behind a “foolish, short-sighted decision” and then demanding restoration of J&K’s statehood.

In the context of the latter point, NDTV asked Mr Abdullah if the Pahalgam terror attack was a setback, i.e., could it mean the federal government might delay statehood citing security concerns.

A furious Chief Minister pointed out that Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, the centre’s rep in J&K, had taken ‘full responsibilty’ for the intel failure leading to the attack.