Good Opportunity To Reduce Trust Deficit, Says NC On Owaisi’s ‘Adopt Kashmiris’ Statement

SRINAGAR, May 17: The National Conference on Saturday endorsed AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s statement urging the Centre to “adopt” the people of Kashmir while confronting Pakistan on terrorism, saying it is a good opportunity to reduce the “trust deficit”.
However, the ruling party in Jammu and Kashmir claimed the support shown by Kashmiris post the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack was “not reciprocated” and that Kashmiris living in other parts of the country were harassed.
“After the attack, people genuinely supported the Government of India on any step it took to avenge the killings. Our chief minister Omar Abdullah, who represents the will of the people, is on record as having said this,” NC state spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said.
In his remarks on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism during an interview with PTI videos, Owaisi on Saturday spoke about the spontaneous protests in Kashmir after the Pahalgam attack.
“In fact, it is a historic opportunity for the government, for Prime Minister Modi, for Home Minister Amit Shah. They should use this opportunity properly. You should definitely confront Pakistan but you should also adopt Kashmiris,” the fifth-term Hyderabad MP said.
Asked to elaborate on what he means by adopting Kashmiris, Owaisi said the government should ensure that there are no human rights abuses there, “they should get their rights, Kashmiri students shouldn’t be attacked in other parts of the country”.
“All this should be done. Don’t leave the Kashmiris to their fate. Adopt them,” Owaisi said.
Reacting to the remarks, Dar said, “Yes, there is a need to adopt Kashmiris. This was the best time to reduce the trust deficit. It would have reduced a lot had they reciprocated, but they did not reciprocate in a good manner.”
He said the protest against the Pahalgam attack by the people of Kashmir was a genuine outpouring of emotions.
“It was an organic protest. There was a time when the government tried to manage the protests, but it was the first time that there was a genuine outpouring of emotions. It was spontaneous, we as a party supported it, it was supported by religious and trade organisations as well,” Dar told PTI.
“But, it is unfortunate that the Government of India did not reciprocate it. We witnessed hate crimes against Kashmiris… after the Pahalgam attack, and there was silence from the GoI,” he claimed.
He said the “most unfortunate” aspect is that no Union minister came to Kashmir to meet the shelling-affected people “which should have sent out a very good and positive message in the country towards Kashmiris. (Agencies)

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