• By Mayukh Debnath
  • Fri, 06 Sep 2024 11:45 PM (IST)
  • Source:ANI

National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah has said that the execution of Kashmiri separatist Afzal Guru, who was hanged to death in 2013 for his involvement in the 2001 Parliament terror attack, did not serve any purpose. In an interview with news agency ANI, Omar, who was the Chief Minister of undivided Jammu and Kashmir at the time of the execution, pointed out that his government had no involvement in the process.

He further said that his government would have withheld state approval if it was sought for the execution. "The unfortunate thing was that the J-K government had nothing to do with Afzal Guru's execution. Otherwise, you would have had to do it with the permission of the state government, which I can tell you in no uncertain terms would not have been forthcoming. We wouldn't have done it. I don't believe that any purpose was served by executing him," he stated.

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The statement, which is expected to trigger a massive controversy, comes weeks ahead of the upcoming J-K Assembly election. This will be the first Assembly election in present-day Jammu and Kashmir, a union territory (UT) that came into existence after the bifurcation of the state of the same name in 2019. The undivided Jammu and Kashmir witnessed its last Assembly polls in 2014.

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The NC and the Congress party have entered a seat-sharing pact for the 2024 J-K Assembly election. The Samajwadi Party (SP), another INDIA bloc constituent, has also extended its support to the alliance. The polling in J-K is scheduled to be held in three phases: September 18, 25 and October 1. The counting will be held on October 8.

(With inputs from ANI)