STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday said Canada should share the evidence about killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar with India to prove its allegations and enable New Delhi to take “corrective measures”, if needed.
“Canada is alleging that India did some incident in that country. They should share the evidence with India,” Abdullah told reporters here. He said Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar has said India will take action if Ottawa shares its evidence with New Delhi.
“India has said the same thing at the UN as well. The foreign minister said if there is any evidence, share it. If there is a need for taking any corrective measures after that, India will do it. Only verbal claims would not work, the evidence should be shared with India,” Abdullah, who was Minister of State for External Affairs in the Vajpayee-led government, said.
On the friction in relations between India and Canada, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir said, “It was unfortunate”.
“The two countries had good relations, be it in terms of trade or people to people contact. Our students would go there to study,” he added.
The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar in June.
India has rejected the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case.
On the polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah claimed that the BJP does not want to hold any elections as it knows that people will punish them through ballot.
“They (BJP) are not in a mood to hold elections because they know that people are not with them. Leave Kashmir aside, BJP will be at the receiving end from the people in Jammu as well. That’s why they do not have courage to hold polls,” Abdullah said.
The former chief minister said the current dispensation does not seem to be in favour of even holding the local bodies and panchayat elections, which the government played up in the Supreme Court.
“Assembly is a far cry, perhaps they are not willing to hold local bodies and panchayat elections which they talked about a lot in the Supreme Court. The only election that we believe will be held is the one to Parliament. They might find it difficult to defer that. Other than that they don’t seem to be in a mood to hold any other election because the mood of the people is to punish them through votes,” he said.
Asked about Director General of Police Dilbag Singh’s statement about terror-free Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said his party will play its role it achieving this goal.
“Who can object to it, other than the terrorists? No one will say that the DGP has said anything wrong. Please make Jammu and Kashmir terror-free, we will also play whatever role we can in this regard. But noting can be achieved by just making statements. How terror-free we are is evident from the Kokernag incident. After such a long time, losing a Colonel, a major, a DySP of JK Police and a jawan is not an ordinary incident,” he said.
“Your aim is to make (JK) terror free, please do it. Let it be proved on the ground. Then remove the AFSPA. We will be the first ones to cheer for you,” he added.