File photo of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
The waving of Islamic State flags in Jammu and Kashmir by masked men recently has been described as the work of "some idiots" by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who asserted today that there is no presence of the Sunni insurgent group in his state.
"You have to understand that no ISIS group has been identified so far in the Valley. The flag of the ISIS was waved by some idiots, which does not mean that ISIS has any presence in Kashmir. Unfortunately, some channels have tried to make an issue out of this and drag me into this as if we are not doing anything on this," Mr Abdullah told reporters today.
Last week, some men carried ISIS flags after Eid prayers at Srinagar's Eidgah Maidan, alarming security forces.
After a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi today, Mr Abdullah said there had been three such cases and some arrests had been made.
"The tailor who made this flag has also been identified and action is being taken against him also. To say from media side that the issue is being ignored and no action is being taken by the state government is absolutely wrong," said the Chief Minister.
Similar flag-waving men surfaced last in July during protests in Kashmir against Israeli air strikes in Gaza.
The Islamic State has seized a third of Syria and large parts of Iraq and this year proclaimed a caliphate across the two countries. The group is currently at war with the US-led coalition army.