Kashmir Impulse Desk
Srinagar, Aug 13
National Conference President Farooq Abdullah has called for a central government investigation into reported threats against employees recruited under a scheme for Kashmiri Pandits, saying it was unclear why the workers had been singled out.
Abdullah said the Ministry of Home Affairs should examine the source and nature of the threats, which he described as unusual because other members of the Kashmiri Pandit community, including government officials and political figures, had not reportedly received similar warnings.
“I am surprised. Why have they received threats? Where from have the threats come?” Abdullah told reporters.
He said security in Jammu and Kashmir involved the Lieutenant Governor-led administration as well as the elected government and argued that the central government should determine who was behind the threats, including any activity on social media.
“There is something fishy in this,” he said, calling for the matter to be investigated.
Abdullah also said the government had failed to fulfil several commitments made to Kashmiri Pandits over the years.
The employment initiative, he said, dated back to the tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his own tenure as chief minister, when efforts were made to bring members of the community back to the Valley and provide them jobs.
He opposed the continued use of transit accommodation for returning Kashmiri Pandit employees, saying they should eventually live alongside the wider population.
Abdullah also condemned the reported attack on Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal and said political leaders remained vulnerable to attacks.
He said Badal had been targeted before and warned that another attempt could not be ruled out.
“Thank God that this time they were not successful and it was averted,” Abdullah said, urging the government to strengthen security arrangements.
The NC leader also criticised what he described as broader problems in the functioning of India’s institutions.
He said protests by the Cockroach Janta Party had drawn attention to questions involving governance, constitutional values, the judiciary and the treatment of citizens.
Abdullah said the Constitution must remain the highest authority for all Indians and argued that India’s federal structure needed stronger states.
“If India has to be strong and has to grow, then the states must be made strong,” he said.
He also criticised the recently concluded Parliament session, saying lawmakers were raising public concerns without receiving adequate answers from the government.
