Jammu, March 12 – In his first response to the failed assassination attempt against him, former Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah stated on Thursday that he has never harbored any animosity towards anyone, and questioned the motives of the assailant.
Speaking to reporters at his residence in Bhatindi area of Jammu, Dr. Abdullah said, "I have never held any malice towards anyone. My doors are always open to everyone. People come to meet me. I listen to them, and I try to help them in whatever way possible. Even when I was the chief minister, I have never harmed anyone."
The octogenarian leader said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah called him on Wednesday evening. "He asked me how I was. I told him that, with the grace of Allah, I am fine. He said that the assailant had been arrested, and they would soon investigate the matter and let me know. I thanked him," he said.
Dr. Abdullah refused to comment on whether the attack on him was part of some conspiracy. "How do I know that? It is for the investigators to find out. As far as I am concerned, I don't know the assailant, and I don't remember ever seeing him."
He said that he never knew the assailant, and he saw his photograph for the first time last evening on his mobile phone.
He praised the J&K Police security personnel and the NSG commandos deployed for his protection. "I am grateful to the J&K Police security personnel and the NSG deployed for my protection. When the incident happened, I felt something hot on the back of my neck."
"Then I heard a sound, which I thought was a firecracker sound. The security men overpowered him, and while they deflected his arm, the shot fired from his pistol went up in the air. I was immediately taken to the vehicle. Later, I was told that two shots had been fired. It was a marriage function attended by many important people, but there was no local police arrangement around the place," he asserted.
Dr. Abdullah said that incidents like this are a result of terrorism, which is touching a new high in the country. "I request the Central government and the L-G not to repeatedly say that things have returned to normal in J&K. We are not able to move freely," he added.
Asked whether such an incident would not have happened if J&K had statehood, he said, "I would not say that, but I can say that there is an elected government in J&K, and it does not have power. Where is the statehood? They promised it in the Parliament and the Supreme Court. So many years have elapsed, and still we have no statehood," he said.
He asserted that India is a democracy and everybody has the right to put forth their point of view.
"I don’t like what they (BJP) say, and they don’t like what I say. But, we have to co-exist, and that is the spirit of our democracy," he said, adding that the space for dissent in the country has narrowed down.
On the Supreme Court decision to grant bail to separatist leader, Shabir Shah today, he said, "I greet him on his bail. All of them should, in fact, be released and asked to work together for peace and welfare of the country," he said.