Omar talks tough, says decency shouldn’t be seen as weakness

A day after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had to confront police personnel to reach Srinagar’s Martyrs’ Graveyard, he took a tough stance on Tuesday, stating, “Don’t consider our decency as our weakness”.

On Monday, Omar had said he was “pushed, shoved, and grappled” by the “protectors of the law” and had to scale the graveyard wall to pay tributes to the 22 civilians killed by the Dogra army on July 13, 1931.

Addressing an event in Srinagar, the Chief Minister, without naming anyone, said his party’s restraint should not be mistaken for weakness. “Some people have misunderstood that because we don’t speak in a loud voice, because we don’t threaten, because we don’t indulge in hooliganism, we are weak. We are not weak. It is the strength of the people here that has brought us to this stage, and we will safeguard this strength,” he said.

Speaking about the government’s performance in recent months, Omar said he had “not complained for eight months and tolerated it silently.”

“If the unfortunate incident hadn’t happened yesterday, you might not have understood our reality. We had no hand in it, but those responsible wanted to show us how many hurdles they can create in our work,” he remarked.

He reiterated his commitment to governance, saying, “As I said yesterday, we will not back down. We will not back down from our goals, nor from our struggles.”

Since taking office last year, Omar government, operating with limited powers, has faced criticism for failing to take any major decisions of consequence. Opposition parties have accused him of treading cautiously to avoid upsetting the Centre. Responding to these criticisms, Omar said, “We are not here on anyone’s favours.”

“For eight years, others ruled here by relying on favours. If we have any favours, they are from Allah first and then from the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Defending his government’s performance, he added, “We have five years to deliver. Did we ever claim we achieved everything? We have asked for five years, though it’s not as if we have done nothing in the last 8-10 months. If my colleagues start listing our work, there is much to count, but we won’t tally achievements every day, every week, or every month.”

On Sunday, Valley leaders were placed under house arrest after the Srinagar administration them permission to visit the Martyrs’ Graveyard.

Fix responsibility for Pahalgam attack

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said it was “better late than never” that L-G Manoj Sinha admitted to an intelligence failure in the Pahalgam attack and called for fixing accountability for the terror incident in which 26 people were killed

Abdullah was reacting to Sinha’s reported remarks in a media interview where he took full responsibility for the Pahalgam attack

“After 80 days, it is better late than never. We remained silent, even though we knew such a major attack could not have happened without an intelligence failure,” Abdullah said, adding that now that the failure had been acknowledged, responsibility should be fixed