ISIS not an immediate threat, says J&K Deputy Chief Minister

ISIS is not an immediate threat to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and the few people who display ISIS flags during prayers would stop doing it if media stops paying attention to them, J&K Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said here on Thursday.

"Only one or two people did it (displaying ISIS flags during prayers). There are thousands of people who come for prayers and out of them only two to three people carried ISIS flag in their pocket to get media attention," Singh said, responding to a question during a press conference in Goa today.

Singh was here to participate in the 16th Regulators and Policymakers' Retreat 2015?which began today.

"Pakistan has made a number of attempts to push into India. ISIS is not an immediate threat and people are merely using ISIS flags to send out a message. We have seen that in recent past the other terrorist organizations have also been reduced," the J&K Deputy Chief Minister said, addressing a press conference at a local BJP office.

"These people (showing ISIS flags) have been doing it only for media attention. They will stop doing it if you don't pay much attention to them," he said, adding that such publicity sends out wrong signals, since it scares people from other states who would like to visit Jammu and Kashmir.

Singh said that any withdrawal of the military from the state should not be a political decision.

"How much security is required in the state should not be a political decision. That is why the J&K government does not have any opinion on the issue. It is the experts who will decide," he said.