Srinagar: As cases of violence and intimidation directed at Kashmiris continue to pour in from different states following the Pulwama attack, National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his silence on the “systematic targeting” of people of the Valley living in other states. He stated that the attacks on Kashmiris “seem to have the approval” of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Abdullah didn’t spare his former ally, the Congress, either, targeting its leadership for failing to provide moral support to Kashmiris in trying times.
Contrasting ‘silent’ Modi with Manmohan Singh
In his 30-minute press conference in Srinagar, Abdullah talked about the 2008 Mumbai attack and how then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appeared on national television the next day and cautioned against vigilantism, to ensure that there was no selective targeting of a particular community.
While the scale of the 26/11 attack was far greater than that of Pulwama, Kashmiris were experiencing the fallout, he said, adding that it would not have been unfair to expect the prime minister to follow Singh’s lead and appeal for calm.
Also read: BJP Politicising Pulwama Attack for Electoral Gains: Congress Ends Week-Long Silence
“This is a prime minister who has said that those who criticise the new train should be punished. For some reason, criticising a train is more worrisome to our prime minister than assault and demonising of an entire community. This is a prime minister whose priorities I fail to understand,” Abdullah said.
On February 20, Modi had said that people who were “mocking” India’s first engine-less train, the Vande Bharat Express, which suffered technical problems on its inaugural run, should be “punished” for “insulting” India’s engineers and technicians. His comments were in response to questions raised by opposition leaders, who had accused the government of rushing the train’s launch.
“We had expectations from the prime minister and we had hoped he would keep politics aside and say something (against the hounding of Kashmiris)… We had hoped he will say a few words. But we have heard nothing but silence,” said Abdullah, a former chief minister of the state.
In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack on February 14, Kashmiris living in different parts of India for studies or business continue to face harassment.
While some students and shawl vendors have been beaten by mobs, three students studying in other states have been charged with sedition for “anti-national” comments on social media. Moreover, a professor has been sacked by a university in Dehradun.
Reports of harassment have mostly come from Dehradun, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan – triggering panic among Kashmiri students studying in different institutions across India and forcing many of them to return to the Valley.
In the latest case, four Kashmiri students were threatened, attacked and humiliated – allegedly by some Yuva Sena activists in the Yavatmal area of Maharashtra – on Thursday, sparking widespread condemnation.
Also read: Pulwama Fallout: From Social Media to the Streets, Calls for Revenge Feed Political Agenda
Amarpreet Singh, director of the UK-based humanitarian relief charity Khalsa Aid, which has won appreciation for helping Kashmiri students studying outside, was quoted by Greater Kashmir as saying that the organisation pressed into service around 30 vehicles to ferry over 300 Kashmiri students to the Valley from different states.
Abdullah said that the number of students returning to Kashmir was much more. “If the prime minister was busy, then at least the home minister should have spoken against such attacks and assured such things won’t be allowed,” he said.
Attacks seem to have Centre’s ‘aashirwad’
According to Abdullah, a community was being targeted across the nation with a plan in place.
“We thought these are miscreants trying to exploit situation, but it seem that these powers have not only approval of the party which is at the centre but its aashirwad (blessing) too,” Abdullah said. However, responding to a question later, he said he doesn’t have definite proof against the party.
Referring to remarks made by Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy, who had called for the boycott of Kashmiris, Abdullah said there were expectations that the statement will be condemned by people at the highest level. “But there is only silence,” he said, adding that “people” were taking advantage of the suffering of Kashmiris to further their political interests.
“What is our crime? Is it that J&K is the only Muslim-majority state? Is that the reason why we are being punished repeatedly?” he asked.
In response to a question, he said it would be shortsighted on his part to suggest that the forthcoming elections have nothing to do with it. “I appeal to the prime minister that elections come and go… If you are ready to sacrifice an entire community to win election, then it is the biggest misfortune of this country,” he stated.
He warned that the continued harassment of Kashmiris outside the state will increase alienation in the Valley. “Those who have been forced to leave studies and return home, if tomorrow anyone of them picks up a stone, who will be responsible for it?” he asked. “They (the students) are being pushed out of the mainstream for political mileage,” he said, expressing concern over the “demonising” of an entire community and “attempts” to paint all Kashmiris with one brush.
‘Congress let us down’
The NC leader said that, while Modi remained silent over the harassment, the Congress leadership also preferred not to utter a word when Kashmiris were expecting moral support from it.
“It is unfortunate. When we needed their voice, they let us down,” he said.
Asked if Congress has preferred silence due to elections, Abdullah said he hoped it wasn’t the case. “That would be a great disservice to this country. The country needs an alternative to the BJP, not BJP’s B-team. I would expect and hope the Congress and all other right-minded parties take a strong stand against this systematic targeting of Kashmiris,” he said.
Hours after Abdullah’s attack on the Congress, senior party leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad appealed to people to not push Kashmiris “back into the mire” by boycotting or beating them.
“The young students from Kashmir, boys and girls, who have taken admission in different colleges and universities across India, are the ones who do not want to join militancy in Kashmir… If they will be beaten up, and persecuted by militants back home, where would they go? Don’t push them back into the mire. These students want to escape,” Azad told reporters in New Delhi.
Withdrawal of security ‘hugely regressive’
Abdullah questioned the decision of the government to withdraw security to separatists and some members of mainstream parties in the state, which is presently under president’s rule, terming the move a “hugely regressive step”.
The state administration on Wednesday withdrew the security provided to 18 separatists and 155 political operatives, including PDP leader Wahid Parra and former IAS officer Shah Faesal. This is in addition to the four separatists whose security was withdrawn on Sunday.
“We appeal to the governor to revisit this decision,” said Abdullah, adding that the withdrawal of security to members from mainstream parties would have an impact on the upcoming elections.