Omar Abdullah says demolishing homes after terror attack could worsen situation
The duo whose houses were razed have been identified as Adil Thokar and Haroon Rashid Ganaie, both active terrorists. The demolition was carried out on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, officials said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday cautioned against indiscriminate retaliatory measures following the terror attack in Anantnag that left a policeman dead a day ago, saying violence cannot be brought to an end without carrying the people along.
"The police's anger is understandable, but demolishing homes and arresting a large number of individuals could exacerbate the situation. It would be beneficial to involve the community in such circumstances," he said.
The CM also noted that the "Supreme Court has issued an order stating that summary action of this kind should not be taken." The remarks came after the authorities demolished the houses of two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in Anantnag, hours after head constable Ashiq Hussain was shot dead in the district.
The duo whose houses were razed have been identified as Adil Thokar and Haroon Rashid Ganaie, both active terrorists. The demolition was carried out on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, officials said.
Constable Ashiq Hussain, who was on Amarnath Yatra security duty, was fatally shot by a lone terrorist at the Lal Chowk in Anantnag on Wednesday afternoon.
CM Abdullah said that during the probe into last year's Pahalgam terror attack, "it turned out that not a single local was involved and all the attackers had come from outside."
Pointing to his previous tenure as chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, he said that based on his experience, the cycle of violence cannot be broken unless people are taken along.
CAN REACH ONLY A CERTAIN POINT USING FORCES: CM
"We can reach a certain point using the police, Army and the CRPF, but the real end will come only when the general public stands together against such violence," the Jammu and Kashmir CM stated while interacting with reporters.
"After the Pahalgam incident, the general public expressed their anger and raised their voice against the terror attack. Even today, people are angry over how head constable Ashiq was brutally killed," he said.
Referring to the detention of more than a thousand overground workers (OGWs) across the Kashmir Valley in the wake of Wednesday's attack, CM Abdullah asserted that the people's anger turns against the system whenever such reports come in.
"I hope we take our people along in this fight; only then will we achieve real success," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
While condemning the policeman's killing, PDP supremo Mehbooba Mufti also appeared to echo the CM's sentiments as she said razing the houses of "alleged" terrorists was "collective punishment" that has no place in a democracy.
"The killing of a police officer in the line of duty is a heinous and condemnable act. But detaining over a thousand people and demolishing the homes of families of two alleged militants amounts to collective punishment that has no place in a democracy," the former CM said in a post on X.
Houses of active terrorists have been demolished in Kashmir earlier as well, but the practice had stopped for nearly a year due to a drop in violence levels.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday cautioned against indiscriminate retaliatory measures following the terror attack in Anantnag that left a policeman dead a day ago, saying violence cannot be brought to an end without carrying the people along.
"The police's anger is understandable, but demolishing homes and arresting a large number of individuals could exacerbate the situation. It would be beneficial to involve the community in such circumstances," he said.
The CM also noted that the "Supreme Court has issued an order stating that summary action of this kind should not be taken." The remarks came after the authorities demolished the houses of two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in Anantnag, hours after head constable Ashiq Hussain was shot dead in the district.
The duo whose houses were razed have been identified as Adil Thokar and Haroon Rashid Ganaie, both active terrorists. The demolition was carried out on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, officials said.
Constable Ashiq Hussain, who was on Amarnath Yatra security duty, was fatally shot by a lone terrorist at the Lal Chowk in Anantnag on Wednesday afternoon.
CM Abdullah said that during the probe into last year's Pahalgam terror attack, "it turned out that not a single local was involved and all the attackers had come from outside."
Pointing to his previous tenure as chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, he said that based on his experience, the cycle of violence cannot be broken unless people are taken along.
CAN REACH ONLY A CERTAIN POINT USING FORCES: CM
"We can reach a certain point using the police, Army and the CRPF, but the real end will come only when the general public stands together against such violence," the Jammu and Kashmir CM stated while interacting with reporters.
"After the Pahalgam incident, the general public expressed their anger and raised their voice against the terror attack. Even today, people are angry over how head constable Ashiq was brutally killed," he said.
Referring to the detention of more than a thousand overground workers (OGWs) across the Kashmir Valley in the wake of Wednesday's attack, CM Abdullah asserted that the people's anger turns against the system whenever such reports come in.
"I hope we take our people along in this fight; only then will we achieve real success," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
While condemning the policeman's killing, PDP supremo Mehbooba Mufti also appeared to echo the CM's sentiments as she said razing the houses of "alleged" terrorists was "collective punishment" that has no place in a democracy.
"The killing of a police officer in the line of duty is a heinous and condemnable act. But detaining over a thousand people and demolishing the homes of families of two alleged militants amounts to collective punishment that has no place in a democracy," the former CM said in a post on X.
Houses of active terrorists have been demolished in Kashmir earlier as well, but the practice had stopped for nearly a year due to a drop in violence levels.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday cautioned against indiscriminate retaliatory measures following the terror attack in Anantnag that left a policeman dead a day ago, saying violence cannot be brought to an end without carrying the people along.
"The police's anger is understandable, but demolishing homes and arresting a large number of individuals could exacerbate the situation. It would be beneficial to involve the community in such circumstances," he said.
The CM also noted that the "Supreme Court has issued an order stating that summary action of this kind should not be taken." The remarks came after the authorities demolished the houses of two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in Anantnag, hours after head constable Ashiq Hussain was shot dead in the district.
The duo whose houses were razed have been identified as Adil Thokar and Haroon Rashid Ganaie, both active terrorists. The demolition was carried out on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, officials said.
Constable Ashiq Hussain, who was on Amarnath Yatra security duty, was fatally shot by a lone terrorist at the Lal Chowk in Anantnag on Wednesday afternoon.
CM Abdullah said that during the probe into last year's Pahalgam terror attack, "it turned out that not a single local was involved and all the attackers had come from outside."
Pointing to his previous tenure as chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, he said that based on his experience, the cycle of violence cannot be broken unless people are taken along.
CAN REACH ONLY A CERTAIN POINT USING FORCES: CM
"We can reach a certain point using the police, Army and the CRPF, but the real end will come only when the general public stands together against such violence," the Jammu and Kashmir CM stated while interacting with reporters.
"After the Pahalgam incident, the general public expressed their anger and raised their voice against the terror attack. Even today, people are angry over how head constable Ashiq was brutally killed," he said.
Referring to the detention of more than a thousand overground workers (OGWs) across the Kashmir Valley in the wake of Wednesday's attack, CM Abdullah asserted that the people's anger turns against the system whenever such reports come in.
"I hope we take our people along in this fight; only then will we achieve real success," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
While condemning the policeman's killing, PDP supremo Mehbooba Mufti also appeared to echo the CM's sentiments as she said razing the houses of "alleged" terrorists was "collective punishment" that has no place in a democracy.
"The killing of a police officer in the line of duty is a heinous and condemnable act. But detaining over a thousand people and demolishing the homes of families of two alleged militants amounts to collective punishment that has no place in a democracy," the former CM said in a post on X.
Houses of active terrorists have been demolished in Kashmir earlier as well, but the practice had stopped for nearly a year due to a drop in violence levels.
