Omar Abdullah escaped unharmed in the grenade attack

July 10: The pro-India National Conference party leader Omar Abdullah was yesterday attacked by militants with grenade but remains unhurt. Reportedly, Mr Omar after addressing a rally in the Kupwara district of Srinagar was leaving for a colleague’s home.

•   E-mail Article
•   Printer Friendly
•   Text-Size    

But minutes after he entered the house two greanades wire fired at the house but exploded some 300 metres away.

Abdullah remains unharmed in the grenade attack but three CRPF jawans and one police officer get injured. The incident took place around 3.45 PM when two militants fired the grenades just after his address the Handwara town.

The injured security personnel were immediately sent to the nearby hospital for treatment. Soon after the episode the entire area was covered by the security forces but no arrest has made yet. Also no militant outfit in the state has taken responsibility for the attack.

Omar Abdullah is the son of former chief minister Farukh Abdullah and also the current president of National Conference. The party founded by Sheikh Abdullah is now the largest political party of the state but defeated by the Jammu Kashmir People’s Democratic Party in the last general election.

Separatists are constantly attacking civilians and leaders of the party having pro-India attitude. The conflict started somewhere in the 1980’s demanding a separate state out of the control of New Delhi. Since then around 60,000 people have been killed in the valley including security personnel though official report marks it around 42,000.

Meanwhile, the rate of violence has decreased in the state after several bilateral talks between India and Pakistan. In recent time both the countries have gone through foreign secretary level talks as a part of peace effort started in 2004. It has also been decided to free prisoners of both sides in the 60 th Independence Day of both the neighbours. However, it’s a regular attempt of separatist militants to hamper the ongoing peace process by creating such instability in the valley.