Revoking Article 370 hasn't ended terrorism: Omar Abdullah after Delhi blast

Pointing to the Jammu and Kashmir connection in the Red Fort blast case, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said that the presence of elements of radicalisation and terrorism in the Valley reflects that the removal of its special status in 2019 "had no bearing on their existence."

"Every time an attack happens, it should be a cause for worry and concern, because these sorts of things were supposed to be part of our past," Abdullah told India Today TV.

Taking a dig at the Narendra Modi government, Abdullah said that the terror incidents near Delhi’s Red Fort and Pahalgam earlier this year indicates that the Centre’s objective of eliminating terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir by revoking its special status has failed.

"We were told that it was Jammu and Kashmir's special status that was responsible for radicalisation and terror. But clearly, this year has shown that that is not the case - whether it was the attack in Pahalgam or the blast in Delhi," Abdullah said.

"These elements continue to exist and the changes that were brought to Jammu and Kashmir a few years ago had no bearing on their existence," he added.

Abdullah further pointed out that the rise of white-collar terrorism in the Valley is not a recent phenomenon, as the region has witnessed such incidents in the past.

The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister also warned that such incidents should not be used to paint an entire community with a broad brush.

"The entire Jammu and Kashmir and the entire Kashmir community is not radicalised," he said, asking why Kashmiri Muslims repeatedly have to prove their patriotism after every attack. "Stop treating all of us as suspects," he urged.

Monday's explosion, believed to be part of a larger terror trail spanning Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, has exposed the scale of the so-called Faridabad Module.

Agencies seized 2,900 kilograms of bomb-making material, which is enough to craft multiple high-impact bombs, and arrested eight operatives, including three Kashmiri doctors, Muzzamil Shakeel, Adil Ahmad Rather, and Shaheen Shahid. The recoveries and arrests reveal the width of the network and its capabilities.

- Ends