Sending a strong message in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said his politics is not so "cheap" that he would use this tragedy as an opportunity to press for his government's demand for statehood.
"Jammu and Kashmir is currently not the elected government's responsibility. But I don't want to use this as an opportunity to demand statehood. How can I use the Pahalgam tragedy to ask the Centre for statehood? Is my politics so cheap? Do I value these 26 lives so little? We have spoken about statehood earlier and will do so in the future. But shame on me if I go to the Centre and ask for it now. At this point, no politics, no business rules, no statehood. This time is only for the strong condemnation of this attack and heartfelt support for the victims," he told the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly during a special session.
At one point, when some members started tapping the benches to praise the Chief Minister's speech, he stopped them. "Not today, we will tap the benches some other day."
Mr Abdullah's National Conference has been demanding the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood to its status before August 5, 2019, when the Centre revoked its special status and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
In his powerful speech, Mr Abdullah said every part of the country, from north to south, and from east to west, came in the throes of this heinous attack. Twenty-five tourists and a Kashmiri pony ride operator were shot dead by terrorists in cold blood at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on April 22. The attack has shocked Jammu and Kashmir and the nation in its brutality.
The National Conference leader said that the whole of Kashmir is united against this attack and that this may mark the "beginning of the end of terror" in the Valley.
Mr Abdullah read out the names and states of each of the 26 victims of the terror attack and said, "From north to south, east to west, Arunachal to Gujarat, Jammu to Kashmir to Kerala, the whole country has come in the throes of this attack."
The Chief Minister said Jammu and Kashmir had started feeling that such attacks were behind it. "Unfortunately, Baisaran has created the same situation when we feel where the next attack will be. I was with the Leader of the Opposition in the police control room when we paid tribute to these people. I had no words to apologise to the victims' families," he said.
Mr Abdullah said the security in Jammu and Kashmir is not under the elected government. "But as Chief Minister, as tourism minister, I welcomed them here. As a host, it was my responsibility to ensure their safe return. I could not. I had no words to apologise. What could I say to those children who saw their fathers covered in blood, to that Navy officer's widow who was married days ago?0 They asked us what their mistake was; they told us they came to Kashmir for the first time and would pay for that holiday lifelong," he said.
Targeting the terrorists behind this attack, he said, "Those who did this claim they did it for us. But did we ask for this? Did we say that these 26 people should be sent back in coffins in our name? Did we agree to this? None of us is with this attack. This attack has hollowed us out."
Stressing that one should look for hope in the worst of times, he said this is the first time in over two decades that people in Jammu and Kashmir have hit the streets to protest against an attack on such a scale. "From Kathua to Kupwara, there is no town or village where people did not protest against this. They said, 'Not in my name'. And this is spontaneous," he said.
