Spurt in terror attacks due to provocative remarks by ministers: Omar Abdullah

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah today said the spurt in militant attacks in the state was a result of "provocative statements" by Union Ministers in the wake of the PoK surgical strikes.

"We are bearing the brunt of statements made after the surgical strikes. If our rulers would have kept quiet after the strikes, and if they would have spoken with their work rather than their mouth, perhaps the conditions would not have been such," he told reporters in south Kashmir's Anantnag district.

The National Conference working president said the statements by Union Ministers that Pakistan would not even dare to look towards India after the strikes and that demonetisation had ended terror, were proving to be wrong now.

"When Defence Minister says that if Pakistan looks at us, we will gouge their eyes out and hand them those, obviously, there would be a reaction somewhere," he said.

Omar said the ministers should focus on their job and leave the talking to the Opposition.

"Unfortunately, there are regular attacks on our establishments, be it Nagrota, Samba or any other place. My only appeal to the rulers is that please pay more attention towards your work.

"It is Opposition's job to talk and the government's job to do work. Here, it is the opposite, the government is talking more and we are working. There should be a role reversal," he said.

The Valley is witnessing a spurt of terror attacks. Seven defence personnel were killed in one such attack at an Army camp at Nagrota on November 29.

The BSF had recently killed three heavily-armed militants in Samba district. The militants had infiltrated into the state to carry out a chain of terror attacks by blowing up running trains and tracks with chained IEDs and hard to detect liquid explosives.

The National Conference leader also hit out at Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju's statement in the Rajya Sabha that illegal funds were being sent through 'hawala' to inimical forces in the Valley to incite protests.

"Such statements only oversimplify a complex political issue in Kashmir that has claimed thousands of young lives. New Delhi should look beyond aggressive, conventional rhetoric and acknowledge the gravity of the situation in Kashmir," he said.

He said both the Central as well as the Mehbooba Mufti-led state government should stop portraying the situation in Kashmir as either a manifestation of terrorism or one invented by slush funds.