“Tragedy Is Hate In Country”: Farooq Abdullah Survives Life Attempt

Since Farooq Abdullah himself connected the incident to “deep-rooted hate” in the nation, the National Conference on Thursday said that the murder attempt on Abdullah was an attempt to destroy Kashmiri leadership.  The party held demonstrations and issued a resolution denouncing the incident, calling for an unbiased investigation into the 88-year-old leader’s attempted murder. 

At a marriage celebration in Jammu, a man known only as Kamal Singh Jamwal gained access to the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir’s strict security grid and threatened him with a firearm. Dramatic camera footage shows the attacker missing his target as a security guard swiftly pushed him and blocked the fire. Given that two rounds meant at Farooq Abdullah were discharged into the air, many people think it was a miracle escape.

“The biggest tragedy is the hate in the country. It has become so deep-rooted,” said Abdullah. The veteran leader said the space for moderate voices is shrinking in the country. “It’s shrinking for those who talk about love and friendship between different communities. No religion teaches hate, but I think we have abandoned religion,” said Abdullah.

He stated that there were poor security arrangements by the police and demanded an inquiry. “They should hold an inquiry and find out why it happened. We live in an era where  hate is deep-rooted. Police should have taken precautionary measures,” he said.

NC lawmakers and leaders protested the attack and called for an unbiased investigation in Srinagar and Jammu. A resolution denouncing the attack, which they called a terrorist act, was voted following an emergency meeting at the party headquarters in Srinagar, according to party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar. The NC spokesperson called the incident a serious security breach, called for an unbiased investigation, and questioned the silence of Manoj Sinha, the Lieutenant Governor in charge of Jammu and Kashmir’s law and order.

Party leaders said the links and ideology of the attacker should be investigated and made public to reveal who is truly behind the attack. The spokesman also questioned the handling of the case after the accused, Kamal Singh Jamwal, was taken into custody. A video of Jamwal discussing his intention to kill Farooq Abdullah has been widely shared on social media.

Completely unapologetic and remorseless, the attacker stated that he had been waiting for the moment to kill the former J&K chief minister for the last 20 years. In the widely circulated video, Kamal Singh Jamwal appears to regret that Farooq Abdullah survived when he finally got the chance to kill him.

Jamwal, 63, told police that he is a resident of Purani Mandi in Jammu and that he had been waiting for this moment to kill Farooq Abdullah for two decades. When a police officer asked him why he wanted to kill Abdullah, the accused said he “just wanted to kill him.”

“Today I got the chance to kill him, but he didn’t get killed; he survived,” he said. As the officer again asked why he wanted to kill Farooq Abdullah, Jamwal replied that “it was his mission”. Jamwal stated he used his own personal weapon – a licensed pistol – in the attack.