Omar, Geelani spike Shinde's terror claim

A day after Union Home Minister Sushil kumar Shinde said that upcoming Amarnath yatra from June 28 faced terror threat, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani were quick to debunk the theory.

“While we will take routine precautions with a multi-layer security grid, screaming media headlines such as ‘yatra attack feared’ were a gross exaggeration,” Omar wrote on the micro blogging site Twitter.

Shinde had on Wednesday said there were intelligence inputs which suggest terrorists have intentions to disrupt the yatra. At a press conference here, Geelani said that the yatra has been an annual feature for the last 150 years.

Adding that, “During this period, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have treated yatris with unique hospitality.” “This unique example of hospitality and brotherhood is unrivalled in the world,” Geelani said.

He said that threat to yatris from Kashmiris was unimaginable. He said there was no threat from militants and “it is a deliberate attempt to create confusion and misconception.”

“The Kashmiris are known for their humility. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are not communal and they have nothing to do with sectarian politics. This is a conspiracy to defame us at international level,” he claimed.

The Hurriyat hawk also gave a call for a shutdown on June 25 against the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the valley.