Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah distanced himself from the WikiLeaks cable emanating from the US embassy in Delhi relating to alleged human rights violations in Kashmir in 2005 and indirectly blamed the then government led by the PDP.
“I am not getting into anything more than the fact that these transcripts or these leaks pertain to 2005. You can do your own maths as to what regime was in power at that time. All I am saying is that as far as this government is concerned we do not condone torture. We never have, we never will,” the NC leader said.
In a rare briefing with the then US envoy to India, the International Committee of the Red Cross had in 2005 expressed concern over alleged human rights violations in Kashmir and spoke about torture in detention centres, though it pointed out that the situation was much better than in the 1990s. “I think it’s important first to put into perspective that this is a report carried by diplomats of the US embassy based on what they might have heard from the Red Cross. It is important to understand this pertains to 2005 and during the much-talked about healing touch regime.” —PTI