J&K: Few People Believe in Violence in The State But The Entire Population Gets Demonised, Says Omar Abdullah

Former Jammu And Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the death of a Quick Reaction Team (QRT) jawan in a stone pelting incident in Anantnag district would demonise the entire population, The Hindu has reported.

Omar Abdullah added that ‘not everyone’ is stone pelter in the state. The former Chief Minister was speaking at a youth conference in Mumbai on Saturday (27 October 2017). “When stone pelters kill a soldier who was merely patrolling, they lose the moral high ground. When such incidents happen, the entire population of the state gets demonised when not everyone is a stone pelter,” Abdullah said.

Urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to walk the talk in the Kashmir issue, he said that the Kashmir issue would not be solved in the next 30 years if the Union Government is not willing to ensure autonomy to the state.

Further, he blamed Pakistan for fishing in troubled waters and said Pakistan had punished the valley for 1971. Abdullah calls for broader political engagements and rejects development as a solution for the Kashmir issue.