‘Kashmiris face suspicion after Delhi Blast, Calls for accountability as violence continues’
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said his government is working on creating fresh job opportunities in the union territory, as government jobs cannot be provided to everyone.
The chief minister was speaking at an event after inaugurating a two-day J-K Business and Trade Fair organised by the district administration of Kulgam in collaboration with ‘Mission YUVA’.
The fair aims to promote entrepreneurship and provide a platform for business innovation and growth for businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs, he said.
The government is working to create jobs, but it is not possible to provide government employment to everyone, the chief minister remarked.
“Therefore, it is essential to create self-employment avenues, and schemes like ‘Mission YUVA’ have been devised to fulfil this objective,” he said.
Abdullah emphasised that banks must ensure smooth disbursement of cases under various entrepreneurship schemes and assured budding entrepreneurs of all possible support from the government.
He added that the aim of the scheme is to empower young people to explore innovative ideas, build sustainable businesses, contribute to the region’s economic progress, and evolve into job creators.
Abdullah said trade fairs play a crucial role in strengthening the economy by offering emerging entrepreneurs opportunities to showcase their talent, connect with wider markets, and expand their business networks.
During the event, he also visited entrepreneur stalls, business units, and departmental exhibits and interacted with the participants. He also distributed sanction letters to beneficiaries under the scheme.
He also expressed deep concern over the growing mistrust faced by people of Jammu and Kashmir following the November 10 car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort that killed 15 people and sparked a sweeping, multi-agency probe.
He said Kashmiris were now apprehensive about travelling outside the Union Territory as they were being unfairly viewed as suspects for the actions of a few.
“In the prevailing circumstances, perhaps parents will not like to send their children outside. When we are looked at with suspicious eyes from every side, when attempts are made to defame us for someone else’s doing, when attempts are made to bring everyone into the ambit of what few people have done, then it is obvious it becomes difficult for us to leave for outside,” Abdullah said while speaking at an event in south Kashmir’s Kulgam.
He added that while it did not feel good to admit it, this was now the reality. “Few people are responsible for what happened in Delhi (car blast near Red Fort), but a perception is being created that we all are to blame for that and we all are a part of it,” he said.
Sharing his own experience, the chief minister said even he thinks twice before driving a J-K registration vehicle in the national capital. “Today, even driving a J-K registration vehicle in Delhi is being seen as a crime. When I do not have many security personnel with me, I myself think whether I should take out my car or not, as I do not know if anyone will stop me and ask me where I was from and why I had come there,” he said.
Since the Delhi blast, the Delhi Police Special Cell, NIA and Crime Branch have intensified investigations, with police checking more than 500 people from Jammu and Kashmir in Faridabad alone as part of tightened security measures.
Later, speaking to reporters in Kulgam, Abdullah said revoking Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019 had not stopped the cycle of violence.
“We want this cycle (of violence) to stop. Jammu and Kashmir, especially Kashmir, has witnessed so much bloodshed in the last 30-35 years. We were told this will not happen now and this cycle will end after 2019. But it has not,” he said.
He stressed that the responsibility lies with those in charge of security. “You will have to ask those responsible for our security as to why it (violence) has not ended. That responsibility does not lie in our hands,” he added.
Referring again to the Red Fort car blast and Friday’s accidental explosion at Nowgam Police Station in Srinagar, Abdullah said, “If a bomb is not exploding in Delhi, then it goes off here.” He lamented that innocent people were dying in such incidents.
The chief minister said he visited five families for condolence on Tuesday and was scheduled to visit two more on Wednesday.
He met the families of Aijaz Afzal Mir at HMT Zainakote, Mohammad Amin Mir at Bemina, and Showkat Ahmad Bhat at Qamarwari — all members of the Forensic Science Laboratory team — as well as Suhail Ahmad Rather at Natipora (revenue department chowkidar) and Mohammad Shafi Paray at Wanabal (tailor), who lost their lives in the Nowgam blast on Friday.
