New Delhi, Mar 12: The Centre on Thursday termed the murderous attack on veteran leader Farooq Abdullah a matter of “great concern” and assured the Rajya Sabha that all necessary steps will be taken to ensure his security.
The government is taking the assassination bid 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 a bid on his life when a gunman fired a shot at point blank range while he was coming out a wedding event in Jammu.
The 63-year-old gunman, identified as Kamal Singh Jamwal, was quickly overpowered and taken into custody.
Nadda’s statement came in response to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s allegation that there seemed to be a conspiracy to eliminate Abdullah – who has Z+ category security – and blaming 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 said.
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 said that it would not be correct to politicise the issue as investigation into the security breach was still active.
As the assassination bid on Abdullah figured in the Rajya Sabha, opposition parties blamed revocation of statehood for the incident, while the Centre promised a comprehensive investigation.
Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House,
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“His security is under threat because statehood of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked,” he said.
Kharge said 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,” he said.
People will be safe when the state gets full statehood, Kharge said.
“People of Kashmir are not safe in your hands,” he told the Centre.
Kharge 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.”
Kharge nwent on to allege that there was a conspiracy being hatched to eliminate people who stand for secularism, socialism and keeping the country united.
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.
Responding to the concerns, Nadda said that the government will take all necessary steps to ensure the security of Abdullah.
He said that “a murderous attack” on Abdullah “is a matter of great concern and a very serious matter”.
“The Government of India is taking the matter very seriously,” he said, assuring a thorough investigation will be done.
The motive of the alleged assign, who has been arrested, would also be ascertained, he said, adding that appropriate action will be taken to provide security to Abdullah.
Nadda, however, said it was not correct to politicise the issue.
“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,” he said.
He went on to attack the Congress party for not being able to give satisfactory answers on the mysterious death of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee in 1953 in Srinagar.
National Conference MP Choudhary, Muhammad Ramzan also alleged that there was no police protection for Abdullah at the time of the attack.
He demanded that the security of the former chief minister must be upgraded.
