CM Omar Says Public Outrage Beginning Of Terrorism’s End In J&K; Refuses To Use Pahalgam Attack For Statehood

Jammu, Apr 28: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Monday said the spontaneous public outrage after the Pahalgam attack is an indication that terrorism may end soon in Jammu and Kashmir and made it clear that he will not cite the massacre to push for statehood restoration.
In his 27-minute speech during a special session of the J&K Assembly, the chief minister, with his voice heavy with emotion, said “this assembly understands the pain of victim families more than any other”.
The day-long session of the assembly was called to condemn the killing of 26 people, mainly tourists, at Baisaran in Pahalgam.
“I did not have the words to apologise to these families though the security of Jammu and Kashmir is not the responsibility of the elected government. As the Tourism Minister, I invited these people to come here.
“Being the host, it was my responsibility to send them back safely. I could not send them back,” Abdullah said at the emotionally charged assembly session.
During the speech, Abdullah refused to ask for statehood for political gain in the face of such tragedy. “My politics is not so cheap…this is not the time to demand statehood.” Earlier, the assembly unanimously passed a resolution expressing shock and anguish over the Pahalgam attack and resolved to fight resolutely to defeat the nefarious designs to disturb communal harmony and hinder progress.
The resolution, moved by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, was passed by voice vote. At the beginning of the session, House members observed a two-minute silence to pay homage to the 26 people killed in the attack last week.
As Abdullah’s speech continued, some MLAs from the ruling as well as opposition benches started thumping the desks only to be stopped by the chief minister, who said “this is not the time for thumping desks, this is the time for condemnation, for sympathy, for unity”.
He said that amidst the darkness, a flicker of hope emerged while referring to protests held against the killing of tourists in the entire Union Territory.
“For the first time in 26 years, I have seen people rise up in spontaneous outrage. From Kathua to Kupwara, the streets echoed with condemnation, a unified voice rejecting the violence,” he said.
The protesters also chanted “Not in my name”, a powerful repudiation of the terror group’s claims, Abdullah said.
He acknowledged the security challenges, but stressed that true peace could come only with the help of the people.
“We can control militancy with guns but we cannot end it. It will end when the people are with us,” the chief minister said, adding that in the spontaneous protests and in the silence observed in mosques, he saw a glimmer of that hope.
“The people’s outrage against the terror attack is the beginning of end of terrorism…if we take proper steps,” he said.
“But we must not take any step to alienate the people,” he added.
Abdullah advocated for nurturing the moment of “collective rejection of terror”.
He directly confronted the terror group, The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which claimed responsibility for the attack, citing alleged demographic change.
“Those who claim to act for our betterment…did we ask for this? Did we ask for 26 innocent people to be sent home in coffins? Did this attack have our consent?” he said.
He asserted that the sentiment of every person in Jammu and Kashmir was a resounding “no”, emphasising the deep and personal impact of the tragedy.
As several MLAs narrated their experiences of many years during which they had lost their kin, Abdullah named each victim, from a Navy officer from Haryana to a tourist from Kerala and a tourist from Gujarat to an IAF corporal in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Pahalgam attack, he emphasised, was not just an assault on the tourists, but an assault on the collective soul of Jammu and Kashmir.
Recalling his visit to the police control room to pay homage to the 26 victims earlier, the chief minister said “how I could seek forgiveness from the bereaved families”.
He spoke about the survivors’ questions, the unfiltered pain of children who witnessed death of their fathers, and the shattered dreams of a newlywed widow of a Naval officer.
Abdullah recounted the heartbreaking questions from survivors, who asked “what was our fault?” Their first trip to Kashmir, intended for joy, had turned into a lifelong tragedy, he said.
Expressing a sense of personal responsibility, he said “as both Chief Minister and Tourism Minister, I invited them to Kashmir. My duty as their host was to ensure their safe return, a duty I failed to uphold.” Paying tributes to ponywallah Syed Adil Hussain Shah from Anantnag, who lost his life in the terror attack, Abdullah said “everyone valued his life, yet this young Kashmiri man sacrificed it to protect the tourists.” “He could have fled without question, but instead, he faced danger head-on.” The chief minister described the extraordinary acts of compassion that followed: a local guide refusing to abandon a tourist family, a humble vendor offering free food, and hoteliers opening their doors to stranded travellers.
“This is the true spirit of our culture,” he said.
Abdullah said the reason behind convening a special assembly session was that neither the Parliament nor any other assembly of the country can understand the pain of the 26 families other than this assembly.
“Speaker sahib, those people sitting around you have also lost someone or the other to terrorism. Our sister (BJP’s) Shagun Parihar, (NC minister) Sakina Itoo, (Peoples Conference chairman) Sajad Gani Lone, (NC legislator) Qaysar Jamshaid…somebody lost his father or uncle. Sajad expressed the pain in the House of losing someone close in a way that nobody else will,” he said.
“How many of us were attacked…father of Rafiq Naik (of PDP) was attacked (on April 17, 2006). While the attacks are countless, the House also remembers the deadly attack on J&K Assembly complex in Srinagar on October 1, 2001 that left 40 people dead.
“That is the reason why I said neither Parliament nor any other assembly can understand this pain as will the J&K Assembly,” Abdullah said. (Agencies)

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