Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Thursday that those behind the Delhi blast should receive maximum punishment, but stressed that not all residents of Jammu and Kashmir can be described as terrorism sympathisers.
The Prime Minister said that only a few elements are responsible for disturbing peace and harmony in the region.
A car bomb, driven by Dr. Omar Nabi, who hails from Pulwama in south Kashmir, near the Red Fort in Delhi, killed 12 people and injured several others on November 10. He has emerged as a key in a terrorist network stretching across Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
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The explosion occurred hours after about 360 kilograms of suspected ammonium nitrate and a cache of weapons and ammunition were recovered from the rented residence of another Kashmiri doctor, Muzammil Janai, in Faridabad on the border with Delhi.
Muzammil is among the eight people, including seven Kashmiris, who were arrested over their alleged links to the “white collar” terrorist JeM unit based in Faridabad.
Speaking to reporters here, Abdullah said: “These few people are responsible for this attack. The guilty should receive the harshest punishments, and the innocent should not be caught in it.” “There is not enough condemnation for this incident. The brutal killing of innocent people in this way is extremely shameful. No one can justify such an act. The investigation will continue,” he said.
Stressing that not all residents of Jammu and Kashmir could be described as terrorist sympathizers, the Prime Minister said that only some elements are responsible for disturbing peace and harmony in the region.
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“Every resident of Jammu and Kashmir is not a terrorist. Not every Kashmiri stands with terrorists. There are only a handful of people who tried to disturb the peace and harmony here,” he said.
“When we start looking at every Kashmiri Muslim through the same lens and try to give the impression that every Kashmiri Muslim is a terrorist, it becomes very difficult to keep things on track,” he said.
Abdullah said those responsible for the attack must be brought to justice and punished with the harshest penalties while ensuring that innocent people are not harassed.
He added: “Guilty people should face the harshest punishments. Innocent people should not be arrested.”
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Responding to questions on the arrest of Arif Nisar Dar, a doctor from SMHS Hospital in Srinagar who was sacked by the lieutenant governor in 2023 over his alleged terrorist links, Abdullah wondered why no legal action was taken earlier despite the availability of evidence.
“What’s new about this? Haven’t we seen university professors involved before? I even remember an associate professor earlier. Where is it written that educated people cannot be involved in such things? If you thought he had terrorist links and you had evidence, why didn’t you take that evidence to court? If you thought he had terrorist links and you had evidence, why didn’t you take this evidence to court?” Why wasn’t he tried? He said that simply dismissing someone from service does not end the matter, and today we see the result of that.
Dar, from Nowgam in Srinagar, is among the eight people arrested in connection with the terror unit.
(tags for translation)Omar Abdullah
