Srinagar: Terrorists who carried out the Pahalgam killings must be brought to justice, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti said Friday in an interview with ThePrint. The former J&K chief minister termed the attack, which claimed 26 lives, as a blot on Kashmir and said it was an aberration given that tourists were targeted.
“Definitely, those who carried out the killings need to be punished so that such things are not repeated,” she said at the PDP office here.
Adding, “It is a very sad, heartbreaking situation. The people of Kashmir are mourning with the rest of the country … They (victims) were killed mercilessly.” Mufti also underlined that it was for the first time that people of Kashmir, in the aftermath of the attack, voluntarily called for a total shutdown and took to the streets in protest.
“The people who killed the people by asking for their religion are terrorists,” she said.
She also emphasised that Adil Shah, the Kashmiri local who tried to snatch the AK-47 of the terrorist, was among those killed. “It was the same Kashmiri who carried the injured on their back and gave blood to the victims. So this is not about Hindu and Muslims,” she said.
Mufti added that the terrorists wanted to “add fuel to the communal polarisation that is happening in the country”.
Asked how the Centre should respond to this act of terror, she said the country is grieving and there is a lot of anger. “In this situation, it is expected from the government of India to take certain steps that will cool the tempers and also ensure things don’t happen again.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: At all party meet, Modi govt admits lapses led to Pahalgam terror attack. Here’s what it told Oppn