Pakistan will be given befitting reply: Farooq

29/04/2025

JAMMU, Apr 28: A strong votary of dialogue with Pakistan in the past, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday said India will give a befitting reply to the neighbouring country for the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 dead.
He said Pakistan should overcome this "misleading notion" that Jammu and Kashmir will become its part by terrorism.
“I have always favoured dialogue and was desirous of talks (with Pakistan) but what we will tell to the families (of the terror victims)? Will this be justice?” the former chief minister told reporters outside the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly complex here.
Abdullah was responding to a question about some people favouring dialogue over war with Pakistan to resolve the issues. He visited the assembly which met for a day-long special session and passed a resolution condemning the April 22 terror attack at the Baisaran meadow in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
Not like the 2019 Balakote surgical strike, but India wants such a response so that nothing like this ever happens again on the soil of Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of precious lives (in the terror attack). It is regrettable that our neighbour (Pakistan) still does not understand that it has committed murder against humanity. If they think we will join them, they need to overcome this misleading notion,” the NC president said.
Farooq also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be questioned on what "answer" is to be given to Pakistan in the wake of the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.
Ahead of the special session in the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly to address the attack, the JKNC chief said, "Ask the Prime Minister what answer should be given to Pakistan," when asked for his suggestion on India's response to Pakistan.
NC chief whip Mubarak Gul also noted that the attack was not part of their culture and that it was "murder of entire humanity".
"It was a brutal attack. Killing an innocent is the murder of the entire humanity. This is not our culture. Entire Kashmir has condemned this attack," Gul said.
While Congress MLA Nizamuddin Bhat, commenting on Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra's statement, said that what the Jammu and Kashmir Congress Chief Had said had a context.
"Karra Sahab's statement does not mean that we are not against terrorism. It has a context. We (Congress) have tried wars, we have tried dialogue, and we have tried every internal cohesive measure to eliminate extremists and terrorism. This is a question of national security. We are with the nation. But there is also a mood that once we have tried everything, let us try it again," Bhat explained.
"That never means that we are tying down the government's hands from taking it up. The union government can take any measure. Congress has already said that against terrorism, they are with the government. Take any measure, but why do you close options? Even in the event of a war, there will still be interventions. This will be followed by a dialogue. We are saying to keep it open," he added.
Meanwhile, J&K Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary moved a resolution to condemn the Pahalgam terror attack and endorsed the diplomatic measures announced by the Union Government after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security.
The attack in Pahalgam is one of the deadliest attacks in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike, in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. Following the Pahalgam terror attack, India has taken strong measures against Pakistan for its support of cross-border terrorism.

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