'Targeted killings would not stop without talks with Pakistan', says former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has said that targeted killings would not stop in the region unless the central government talks with Islamabad like it was talking to China to resolve the border issue in Ladakh. The former Jammu and Kashmir CM also said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would earlier blame the Constitution's Article 370 for such killings and other ills but people are still dying four years after the provision that granted the region's semi-autonomous status was revoked

Offering condolences to the family of a party colleague, Abdullah said, "Targeted killings would not stop unless they (India and Pakistan) hold talks. They (BJP) earlier held Article 370 responsible for the killings and other ills. ...it has been four years since Article 370 was revoked but still, people are dying."

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Adbullah further asked if Article 370 was responsible for such killings, then why innocent Kashmiri Pandit Puran Krishan Bhat was killed?

"There must be some reason. Article 370 was not responsible for killings because terrorism is being sponsored from outside," Abdullah said.

Last week, Bhat was killed in the latest series of targeted killings in Kashmir since last year.

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Abdullah said the killings would not cease unless terrorism is stopped. "...it can never be done militarily alone. We have to find a way out via talks. ...what is going on in the Russia-Ukraine war. They have been fighting for months and what have they achieved.. people have died,” he said. “...when we are talking to China...to resolve our border issue...why cannot we talk to them [Pakistan] and find a way out. Otherwise, we will continue to die."

He also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments in context to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that "today's era is not an era of war".

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Since the war began in February, PM Modi had spoken regularly to Russian President Vladimir Putin, seeking dialogue and peace talks, but without publicly condemning the war. India's biggest defence provider for years, Russia is now a big supplier of oil and coal too.

Putin had responded that he knew PM Modi's concerns over the conflict, adding, "We will do everything to stop this as soon as possible."

• Farooq Abdullah
• Jammu and Kashmir
• Pakistan
• Puran Krishan Bhat
• Kashmiri Pandit