SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said it was appropriate that Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha acknowledged an intelligence failure in the Pahalgam attack, but stressed that responsibility must be fixed for the incident in which 26 people lost their lives.
Reacting to Sinha’s reported statement in a media interview where he accepted full responsibility for the attack, Abdullah said, “After 80 days, it is better late than never. We knew such a major incident could not have occurred without an intelligence failure.”
He added that the admission must be followed by accountability. “If he has acknowledged there was an intelligence failure, then someone must be held responsible. It cannot be that 26 people are killed and there is no progress,” Abdullah said while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Srinagar.
On Monday’s incident at the Naqshband Sahib graveyard in Srinagar, where police stopped political leaders from paying tributes to the 22 civilians killed on July 13, 1931, Abdullah said the action was unnecessary. “This should not have happened. The restrictions were for July 13, not July 14. We were not violating any law,” he said.
Abdullah also thanked political leaders from other states, including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, for expressing support.
Earlier in the day, while inaugurating a new block at the Bone and Joint Hospital in Barzulla, Abdullah addressed concerns over recent developments and said his administration’s restraint should not be seen as weakness.
“Some think we are weak because we don’t resort to threats. That is incorrect. Our decency should not be mistaken for weakness. We will not compromise on the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
He added that the government derives its mandate from the people. “We are not here due to anyone’s favour, except the support of the Almighty and the voters of J&K.”
Following Monday’s alleged manhandling of the Chief Minister at the Martyrs’ Graveyard, the National Conference on Tuesday demanded an apology from the Lieutenant Governor. -(KL)
