Won't use Pahalgam for statehood demand: J&K CM Omar Abdullah

Centre blocks 16 Pak YouTube channels; Pak defence minister says Indian attack imminent

At its daylong special session on Monday, legislators of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Assembly passed a unanimous resolution to defeat the nefarious designs of those who sought to disturb the communal harmony and progress of the nation and of J&K.

 

The resolution said “this House is mindful of the sinister design behind the selective targeting of the victims” of the terror attack in Pahalgam on Tuesday, when 26 people were killed.

 

Addressing the Assembly, J&K Chief Minister (CM) Omar Abdullah said he would not indulge in “sasti siyasat”, or cheap politics, to use the Pahalgam terror attack as an opportunity to press for the restoration of statehood to the Union Territory.

 

 

He said as CM and tourism minister of J&K it was his responsibility to ensure that the tourists returned home safely and that he had no words to apologise to them.

 

Abdullah noted that for the first time in many years, he witnessed truly unified protests against terror attacks. 

 

According to a government source, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and briefed him on the ongoing operations and security arrangements in Jammu and Kashmir. 

In a development related to the terror attack, officials in the Union government said the Centre had blocked 16 Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly disseminating “false, provocative and communally sensitive content” about India and also strongly objected to the BBC’s reportage on the Pahalgam attack. 

 

The Ministry of Home Affairs had recommended blocking the YouTube channels, including Dawn News, Irshad Bhatti, SAMAA TV, ARY NEWS, BOL NEWS, Raftar, The Pakistan Reference, Geo News, Samaa Sports, GNN, Uzair Cricket, Umar Cheema Exclusive, Asma Shirazi, Muneeb Farooq, SUNO News and Razi Naama.

 

In a letter to BBC India head Jackie Martin, the Ministry of External Affairs objected to the description of terrorists as “militants” in its reporting on the Pahalgam tragedy.

 

In one news flash, the BBC said: “Pakistan suspends visas for Indians after deadly Kashmir attack on tourists.” This was flagged by the government as objectionable.

 

The government has also blocked a message doing the rounds on WhatsApp, seeking the contribution of one rupee every day for “modernisation of the Indian Army and for soldiers who are injured or martyred in the war zone”. It said the message was misleading.

 

The government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Monday flagged that some pro-Pakistan social media accounts were falsely claiming that “confidential documents” related to the preparedness of the Indian Army had been “leaked”.

 

In New Delhi, members of the parliamentary standing committee on defence observed two minutes’ silence in memory of those killed in the terror attack. According to sources, there were no inconvenient questions to the government. Opposition members said it was in the spirit that they supported the government in responding to the terror attack. The Congress also asked its leaders and workers to not speak out of turn on the issue, and stick to the Congress Working Committee resolution on the Pahalgam terror attack. However, more Opposition parliamentarians on Monday joined the call for convening a special session of Parliament.

 

In Islamabad, in an interview to Reuters, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Monday said a military incursion by India was imminent.

 

“We have reinforced our forces because it is something which is imminent now. So in that situation some strategic decisions have to be taken, so those decisions have been taken,” Reuters quoted Asif as having said in an interview at his office in Islamabad.

 

Asif said India was ramping up its rhetoric and that Pakistan’s military had briefed the government on the possibility of an Indian attack. He said Pakistan was on high alert and it would only use its arsenal of nuclear weapons if “there is a direct threat to our existence”.

 

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Monday the government was assessing the situation arising out of Pakistan’s airspace closure and any decision would be taken only after a thorough understanding,

 

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday accused Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) President Naresh Tikait of speaking the “language of Pakistan”.

 

Tikait, in a video clip that made rounds on social media, condemned the Pahalgam terror strike and called for the strictest action against those involved. But he also said the government should not have suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan because it would affect the common people, especially farmers, in the neighbouring country.

 

The police on Monday carried out raids in Srinagar, Doda, and Kishtwar (all in J&K) as part of the clampdown on the terror web.

 

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With inputs from agencies