Attempts being made to vitiate atmosphere in state: Omar

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah today said attempts were being made to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the state and appealed to people to maintain communal harmony, a day after protests broke out in Jammu over desecration of a temple.
He said it was the government's responsibility to strengthen the administration so that such incidents do not take place.
"The chief minister is in Jammu and we have been told that she is monitoring the situation on the ground. We will wait for her to make a statement. We will listen from her on what policy she has to make the situation peaceful again in the state," he told reporters here on the sidelines of a party function.

Omar appealed to people to maintain communal harmony.
He said attempts were being made to vitiate the atmosphere in the state but the government has not come up with the right response yet to deal with it.
"Attack in Anantnag, on national highway, then an attack on the other side of the tunnel in Kud, then the continuous infiltration attempts, it is obvious that attempts are being made to vitiate the atmosphere and we have not seen the right response from the government yet," Omar said.

Referring to the Anantnag by-poll, the NC leader accused Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti of using illegal means to win the election.

"We are working hard but the government is also not lagging behind in using its influence. Where the other parts of the state are facing shortage of ration, we are hearing that Anantnag is filled with ration.
"The sugar quota of the whole state has been taken there. While the timber depots elsewhere are empty, there is perhaps no depot in that constituency which is empty...The government is using all illegal means to win this seat," Omar said.