‘Utter neglect’ of security front by govt: Omar

Jammu, Aug 8 (PTI) National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Thursday attacked the BJP-led central government over the terrorist incidents in J-K’s Jammu region, saying areas that had been freed from terrorism is once again reeling under its fear.

The is because of the “utter neglect” of the security front by the government, he said at a public rally in the Bani area of Kathua district on Thursday.

Abdullah said the ground reality does not support the government’s claim that it is creating a new Jammu and Kashmir which symbolises peace, progress and development. 

“They (BJP government and J-K administration) have claimed that Jammu and Kashmir is free of violence and gun culture. But when we look at the reality on the ground, the areas we had freed from terrorism are once again reeling under the fear of guns,” he said.

“People in areas, where there used to be no Village Defence Committees, are now demanding weapons to safeguard themselves and their villages. The army, (personnel) packed in scores of trucks, is being reinducted into areas where the number of troops was decreased by us,” Abdullah said.

He said that “our rulers did not pay attention to these areas”. “They neglected them, and that has led to the worsening situation that we are all witnessing. They have failed on the security front,” he said

Recalling his tenure as J-K chief minister, Abdullah said that “as far as security was concerned, I cannot recall any militant attack taking place in the Bani area during my six-year rule under the NC-Congress coalition government”.

“We never heard of any encounters or militants roaming in the area during that period. We had made the region free of gun culture,” he said.

There have been reports of terrorist attacks in Bani (Kathua district) and in Kishtwar, Doda, Reasi, Rajouri, and Poonch districts in the Jammu region), Abdullah highlighted.