Opposition parties on Sunday attacked the central government over the twin terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday night, killing one person and injuring a couple. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said that the Centre is “misleading” the public into thinking that Jammu and Kashmir is now free of terror attacks.
Abdullah said, “I have been repeatedly saying that those sitting in Delhi are misleading the people by saying Article 370 was responsible for terrorism. How many years have passed since the abrogation of the Article? Has terrorism stopped?”
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His comments came a day after terrorists struck two places on Saturday night in twin terror attacks, killing Aijaz Sheikh, a former sarpanch affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in Shopian. A tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag was left injured in the attack.
On Sheikh’s killing, the NC chief said, “Had he not the right to live? This is a free country and any party can propagate its ideology. Who killed him should be probed and that too soon.” “If they (Centre) do not go for the probe, we should invite an international committee to investigate who is responsible for such attacks,” he added.
Read more: ‘International agencies must probe’: Farooq Abdullah on terror attacks in J&K
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday condoled the loss of life in the twin terror attacks, saying that it reflects on the failure of the government. Mufti further claimed that the attacks could be “deliberate” to frighten people ahead of the polling for the Lok Sabha polls.
The PDP chief said, “The government should answer about the two incidents as it is beating the drums, claiming that the situation in J&K has improved and militancy is over. The attacks took place immediately after the two-day visit of the Home Minister (Amit Shah).”
“The attacks reflect the negligence and the failure of the government and there is a possibility that the shortcoming was deliberate to frighten the people so that they do not vote in large numbers in the next two phases,” the former chief minister said.
Further, senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta said that those accusing the government of misleading people should seek unconditional public apology for their remarks, referencing to Abdullah’s statements.
(With inputs from PTI)
