‘Those who don’t want elections should … ‘: Omar Abdullah on delaying assembly polls due to terror attacks in J&K | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said that the recent increase in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir should not serve as a reason to postpone assembly elections, recalling that elections were conducted even in 1996 when militancy was at its zenith in the region.
“Some people are saying the situation has deteriorated and hence, there should be no elections.What happened to you? Are we so weak or the situation worsened so much that there are no chances of holding elections? We held elections in 1996 and you have to agree that there is a difference of heaven and earth between the situation at that time and today,” said Omar Abdullah, quoted by news agency PTI.
He argued that avoiding elections would be akin to surrendering to terrorist forces, thereby dishonoring the sacrifices made by security personnel. “Those who do not want to hold elections (in J&K) should say that we are bowing before the gun-toting forces and are accepting defeat, besides ignoring the sacrifices of our forces. You tell our enemies that we will lay down without fighting,” he said.
“If you want to bow before such forces then don’t go for the (assembly) elections. We have no objection because this election is taking place on the orders of the Supreme Court which has set a deadline of September 30.” “You say in the Supreme Court the situation is not conducive for holding assembly polls and we are bowing before the forces who over the past (three) years martyred our 55 bravehearts. If you want to ignore and waste their sacrifices, we will bear the decision silently as there is nothing else we can do,” Abdullah continued.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a public rally at Gurha Slathia in the Samba district, he noted that regional tensions and terrorist threats from across the border have always existed and asked the administration to address these issues proactively.
“We know they won’t desist from their activities but somehow we were also found off-guard,” he said while criticizing lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha. Omar criticized the delay in convening the high-level meeting in Jammu, which ultimately took place on Saturday. “The meeting should have been called a long time after the first terror incident. Why did he wait for so long? It was only after we started raising the concern, the meeting was convened,” he said.
“When they took over from us in January 2015, the situation was altogether different as we had cleared all areas of Jammu region of the scourge of terrorism. Despite their claims post (August) 2019 (when J&K’s special status was revoked and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two Union Territories), there is no place which is not facing the looming threat of terror attacks,” Omar Abdullah further said.
Abdullah claimed that the region is now witnessing more frequent terrorist attacks, resulting in heavy casualties among security personnel. “Not only did they fail to ensure the development of J&K, but our security has also been compromised, which is evident from the attacks, resulting in loss of precious lives of our brave personnel. They are least bothered about all these,” he said. “From Kathua to Reasi and Rajouri to Doda, there hardly passes any day when there is no news of a terror attack on the forces.”
“Some people are saying the situation has deteriorated and hence, there should be no elections.What happened to you? Are we so weak or the situation worsened so much that there are no chances of holding elections? We held elections in 1996 and you have to agree that there is a difference of heaven and earth between the situation at that time and today,” said Omar Abdullah, quoted by news agency PTI.
He argued that avoiding elections would be akin to surrendering to terrorist forces, thereby dishonoring the sacrifices made by security personnel. “Those who do not want to hold elections (in J&K) should say that we are bowing before the gun-toting forces and are accepting defeat, besides ignoring the sacrifices of our forces. You tell our enemies that we will lay down without fighting,” he said.
“If you want to bow before such forces then don’t go for the (assembly) elections. We have no objection because this election is taking place on the orders of the Supreme Court which has set a deadline of September 30.” “You say in the Supreme Court the situation is not conducive for holding assembly polls and we are bowing before the forces who over the past (three) years martyred our 55 bravehearts. If you want to ignore and waste their sacrifices, we will bear the decision silently as there is nothing else we can do,” Abdullah continued.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a public rally at Gurha Slathia in the Samba district, he noted that regional tensions and terrorist threats from across the border have always existed and asked the administration to address these issues proactively.
“We know they won’t desist from their activities but somehow we were also found off-guard,” he said while criticizing lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha. Omar criticized the delay in convening the high-level meeting in Jammu, which ultimately took place on Saturday. “The meeting should have been called a long time after the first terror incident. Why did he wait for so long? It was only after we started raising the concern, the meeting was convened,” he said.
“When they took over from us in January 2015, the situation was altogether different as we had cleared all areas of Jammu region of the scourge of terrorism. Despite their claims post (August) 2019 (when J&K’s special status was revoked and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two Union Territories), there is no place which is not facing the looming threat of terror attacks,” Omar Abdullah further said.
Abdullah claimed that the region is now witnessing more frequent terrorist attacks, resulting in heavy casualties among security personnel. “Not only did they fail to ensure the development of J&K, but our security has also been compromised, which is evident from the attacks, resulting in loss of precious lives of our brave personnel. They are least bothered about all these,” he said. “From Kathua to Reasi and Rajouri to Doda, there hardly passes any day when there is no news of a terror attack on the forces.”
