J&K Congress condemns attack on Farooq Abdullah, seeks accountability

The Jammu and Kashmir Congress Committee on Thursday strongly condemned the attempted attack on former chief minister Farooq Abdullah in Jammu, saying those responsible for maintaining law and order must be held accountable for the grave security lapse.

Abdullah had a narrow escape on Wednesday night when a gunman allegedly opened fire at him from behind as he was leaving a wedding function in the Greater Kailash area on the outskirts of the city. He was accompanied at the time by deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary and chief minister Omar Abdullah’s adviser Nasir Aslam Wani.

Police arrested the accused, identified as 63-year-old Kamal Singh Jamwal, a resident of the Purani Mandi locality of Jammu. During questioning, he reportedly told investigators that he had been waiting for an opportunity to target Abdullah for nearly two decades.

Reacting sharply to the incident, Tariq Hamid Karra, president of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress Committee, described the firing as deeply shocking and said it raised troubling questions about the prevailing security situation in the region.

“Strongly condemn the shocking firing incident on former CM Farooq Abdullah and other senior leaders. Such acts of violence are deeply disturbing and raise serious concerns about the prevailing security scenario in the region,” Karra said in a post on X.

He warned that the growing sense of lawlessness and criminalisation could not be ignored. “Those entrusted with maintaining law and order must be held accountable. The people deserve safety, stability, and a secure environment, and it is the responsibility of the administration to ensure that such incidents are not repeated,” he said.

Echoing similar concerns, Ghulam Ahmed Mir, All India Congress general secretary and leader of the Congress Legislative Party, also condemned the episode, calling the occurrence of such violence in a public setting deeply unfortunate.

“Such incidents are unfortunate. The security setup should investigate how this happened. The matter needs to be addressed,” Mir said.

The dramatic episode has sparked renewed debate over security arrangements in the region, with political leaders demanding a thorough probe into how the assailant managed to get close enough to fire at a high-profile leader at a public function.

With PTI inputs