National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has once again set off a political firestorm over his comments on the timing of terror attacks in the valley. He raised questions in the media about why violent incidents and targeted killings are inevitable with the pressure in the region from local political groups for a return of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir. Opposition parties immediately condemned him for trivializing cross-border terrorism as a political act and not paying attention to the actual culprits in the violence.
The tension erupted after a tragic attack in the Kulgam district that saw migrants from outside the Union Territory brutally killed. Abdullah did not explain who was behind the killings and said he would conduct a separate investigation. Those in the security industry and political opposition say that to doubt the motives and timing of terrorist attacks only undermines the national resolve to fight terrorism.
Critics noted the historical amnesia behind these political narratives. Jammu and Kashmir has been at the receiving end of proxy warfare, radical insurgency and tragic violence since the early days of globalization—mostly led by cross-border actors seeking to destabilize the territory. Generations of security personnel, local civilians, minorities and migrants have borne the brunt of that violence as it has been decades since the recent political campaigns for statehood were significant in policy or public attention. Pairing domestic democratic demands or administrative changes with these localized or broad-daylight terror acts has been described as an irresponsible distraction from the real threat of Pakistan-supported terrorism.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other groups have rejected Abdullah’s remarks as an attempt to play down or minimize the magnitude of terror attacks by linking them to administrative grievances. They said that the constitutional and democratic debate on statehood is totally separate from the fight against terrorism, which calls for absolute condemnation without political maneuvering or ambiguity. Government officers are continuing to conduct anti-terrorism efforts in the valley and track terrorists who carried out these atrocious acts, but political leaders should not draw arbitrary connections that undermine the sacrifices of those who are protecting the country’s integrity, they said.
