IoK ex-CM Farooq Abdullah tells India not to blame only Pakistan for attack

Following the death of 44 Indian soldiers in an attack on them in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), former IoK chief minister Farooq Abdullah has said India should start peace talks with Kashmiris and not blame Pakistan only for the attack.

He said he was saddened to hear about the deaths of the soldiers but added that such an incident or deaths in occupied Kashmir is not a new thing. "This is not something happening for the first time. These incidents happen everyday there. There is not a day when nothing of this sort happens there," he said while speaking to India media.

Abdullah further said that this will not end until we do not find a way to resolve the issue. He urged that India should talk with Kashmiris, because using the force of guns and army is not the solution. "Don’t blame only Pakistan because local people are joining [Kashmiri fight]," he said.

Don't Blame #Pakistan . Local People are joining the Freedom : Farooq Abdullah chairman of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference.
#PulwanaAttack #Kashmir pic.twitter.com/D91GveVxq6

— Syed Ali (@Ali_answers) February 15, 2019

Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack, in which Indian paramilitary force were targeted by a suicide bomber, who rammed a car into their bus in occupied Kashmir on Thursday. Soon after the attack, the Indian government demanded that Islamabad take action against groups operating from its soil.

Pakistan has rejected India blaming the attack on Pakistan. “We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement posted on its website early on Friday.

“We have always condemned acts of violence anywhere in the world,” the Pakistan foreign ministry added.