SRINAGAR: All Kashmiris were being looked at with suspicion in other parts of India because of the actions of a few, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said, adding that even he hesitated going out in Delhi in a J&K registered vehicle.Hitting out at the Centre and the LG administration, he said stripping J&K of its special status and statehood had not ended bloodshed, and those responsible for the UT’s security should answer for the current situation.
The chief minister, while addressing a gathering in Kulgam, said the situation had deteriorated to the point that Kashmiri parents hesitated to send their children to other states for studies or jobs. “When fingers of suspicion are pointed at us from all sides, when actions of a few are used to defame all of us, when everyone is dragged into it because of the involvement of a few, it is difficult for us to leave J&K,” he said.Some of the Delhi car blast perpetrators and other suspects arrested in the white-collar terror module recently busted are from Kashmir.“Look at what happened in Delhi. A few were responsible but the impression is being created that all of us are to blame for it and all of us are involved in it. Today, driving a J&K-registered vehicle in Delhi is treated almost like a crime. When I’m not surrounded by security personnel, I wonder whether I should even drive my J&K-registered car or not. I fear being stopped and questioned,” he said.The CM was in Kulgam to visit the families of some of the victims of Friday’s blast inside Nowgam police station in Srinagar that killed a Special Investigation Agency officer, three FSL personnel, two revenue officials and a tailor associated with the station, and wounded 30 others.It was the Nowgam police station that probed the Jaish-e-Mohammad posters that appeared in Bonpora area on Oct 19, which led to the uncovering of the interstate terror module involving doctors and others.“What should we say about the situation today? If a bomb is not exploding in Delhi, it’s going off here,” the CM said. “Innocent people are losing their lives. Yesterday, I went to five homes to offer condolences and today I am visiting two more. We want this vicious cycle of violence to stop somewhere.”“In the past 30-35 years, we have witnessed blood and gore on a massive scale in the Valley. We were told it will end and that after 2019, the situation has improved. But it hasn’t, and why it hasn’t is a question for those responsible for our security. The responsibility of security does not lie with us,” Omar said.
