New Delhi, March 12 The Union government on Thursday termed the murderous attack on veteran leader Farooq Abdullah as a matter of "grave concern" and assured the Rajya Sabha that all necessary steps will be taken to ensure his security.
The government is taking the assassination attempt with utmost seriousness, Leader of the House and Union minister J P Nadda said a day after the 88-year-old National Conference leader escaped an attempt on his life when a gunman fired a shot at close range while he was coming out of a wedding event in Jammu.
The 63-year-old gunman, identified as Kamal Singh Jamwal, was quickly subdued and taken into custody.
Nadda's statement came in response to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's allegation that there appeared to be a conspiracy to eliminate Abdullah - who has Z+ category security - and blaming the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood for the incident.
"A murderous attack on Abdullah is a matter of great concern and a very serious matter…," Nadda said.
He said a thorough investigation is being conducted to ascertain the motive of the arrested assassin and to prevent any such security lapse in the future.
The security of the National Conference party president is a matter of great importance and the investigation will not be limited to the arrest, the minister added.
He assured the members that "appropriate action will be taken".
Accepting the severity of the attack on Abdullah, Nadda strongly rebutted the opposition's attempt to use the security breach to comment on the political status of Jammu and Kashmir.
"Reaching a conclusion that this happened because (Jammu and Kashmir) was not given statehood... and making allegations that there is in a way a conspiracy being hatched to kill him... is condemnable," Nadda said.
He also stated that it would not be correct to politicise the issue as investigation into the security breach was still active.
Kharge raised the issue when the House met for the day, saying the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister's security was at risk.
"His security is under threat because statehood of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked," the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said. He added that no such incident could happen in the days when local security and police arrangements were with the state government.
The situation in Jammu and Kashmir today is because security is with the Union Home Ministry after the revocation of statehood, Kharge alleged. "Law and order has broken down and conspiracy is being hatched to eliminate important leaders."
People will be safe when the state gets full statehood, he said. "People of Kashmir are not safe in your hands," he told the Centre.
He said Abdullah was saved by a whisker.
"Is it the intention of the government to kill Farooq Abdullah," the Congress president asked. "If the intention was to safeguard him, he should have had full security cover."
He went on to allege that there was a conspiracy being hatched to eliminate people who stand for secularism, socialism and keeping the country united.