April 28, 2025
JAMMU – Emphasizing the need for a decisive fight against terrorism and its origin in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Sunday that there should do be no alienation of the Kashmiris as they have come out against the killing of innocent people.
Omar’s statement in a post on X came following reports of several people having been detained after the Pahalgam attack and harassment of Kashmiri students and traders at various places in the country.
Expressing concern over such incidents, Omar wrote; “After the Pahalgam terror attack, there must be a decisive fight against terrorism and its origin. People of Kashmir have come out openly against terrorism and the murder of innocent people, they did this freely & spontaneously”.
“It’s time to build on this support and avoid any misplaced action that alienates people. Punish the guilty, show them no mercy but don’t let innocent people become collateral damage”, Omar added.
Several other Kashmiri leaders, including the PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Peoples Conference leader Sajad Lone have alleged that Kashmiris were being given a collective punishment.
Mehbooba wrote on X; “The Government of India must tread with caution and carefully distinguish between terrorists and civilians following the recent Pahalgam attack. It must not alienate innocent people, especially those opposing terror. There are reports of thousands being arrested and scores of houses of common Kashmiris being demolished along with those of militants”.
She appealed to the government to “direct the authorities to take care that innocent people are not made to feel the brunt as alienation aids terrorists’ goals of division and fear. The Pahalgam tragedy united all Kashmiris in condemning this heinous act & standing in solidarity with the nation. Unfortunately, instead of fostering unity, TV debates are spreading venom and communalizing the issue”.
Kashmir’s chief cleric and Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also appealed not to punish innocent Kashmiri families.
He wrote on X; “While Kashmiris collectively condemn the heinous crime at Pahalgam, and it is imperative to bring its perpetrators to justice, indiscriminate arrests and videos circulating on social media of demolition of houses and neighbourhoods, is disturbing and distressing. I urge the authorities, in seeking justice for the innocent victims, not to punish innocent Kashmiri families”.
Ruling National Conference MP, Ruhullah Mehdi, also took to social media and wrote on X; “Kashmir and Kashmiris are being given a collective punishment”.
Peoples Conference chief and MLA, Sajad Lone also wrote on X asking the authorities “not to fritter away the precious gains” of mass protests against the Pahalgam killings. Such protests by Kashmiris were first of its kind in the last 78 years.
“It showed a shift in mindset from a society in which some significant sections may have accorded social sanctity to the concept of violence- to a society which matched in thousands across villages and towns condemning violence thereby signifying the social stigmatisation of violence”.
“I hope those in charge of law and order do understand the significance of the shift and don’t do anything erroneously which impedes the shift or facilitates a return to the earlier mindset”, Lone added.
