Omar: No politics over 109 deaths
Refusing to be drawn into political gamesmanship, Jam and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said he was saddened more than anybody else over the 109 deaths during the ongoing unrest, which he feels is like somebody had “pulled out 109 pieces from my heart”.
“I am not ready to do politics over the 109 deaths, I am not ready to change the condolence resolution into a political resolution, but me and my God know that I am saddened more than anybody else here about the loss of precious lives,” Mr Abdullah said while responding to the points raised by Opposition members in the Assembly here.
“I feel like somebody has put a hand into my chest and pulled out 109 pieces from my heart. Somebody fired the bullets (which killed the youths) but I feel like the gun was on my shoulder,” Mr Abdullah said.
The chief minister was concluding the obituary references for former legislators and those killed in the ongoing unrest in the state.
Responding to the demand for action against erring security force personnel, he said he will not allow the sacrifices of the youth go waste.
“If the state is benefited by these sacrifices, I will feel it is much better than the death penalty to the culprits... If the state benefits, I feel these sacrifices have not gone waste,” he said.
Mr Abdullah said there was a tradition of the chief minister responding to the points raised and the allegations levelled by the Opposition parties but he would change that tradition on Thursday. The chief minister said he will speak on political issues if the Speaker allows a discussion on some other day during the current session. It has become a tradition to play politics over deaths as some do it through speeches while some other by tying black armbands, the chief minister said in an apparent reference to PDP President Mehbooba Mufti. —PTI
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