Omar Abdullah questions ‘lip service’ about deaths due to LoC shelling after Pahalgam: ‘Only half story is being told’

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has criticised the "lip service" in the national narrative about civilian deaths during cross-border shelling in Jammu and Kashmir after Operation Sindoor, India’s strike on terror camps in Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack. In an interview with India Today, Abdullah said that in aftermath of India's retaliation only "half the stories" have been told. 

“While there was a spontaneous expression of anger about what happened in Pahalgam to those 26 innocent civilians, there is also a simmering disappointment that not enough is being said about Kashmiris who died in Pakistan's cross-border shelling,” Omar said in an interview to India Today.

“The story of Pahalgam is being told, but what about the twins who were killed in the Poonch shelling, what about the lady who died in Kashmir, what about my additional district development commissioner who died in his home in Ramban. These stories, unfortunately, are not being told,” the CM added.

He was mentioning about 12-year-old twins Zoya and Ayan Khan, who were slain after a mortar shell fired from across the border hit their rented home in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district last week, where their aunt and uncle also lost their lives.

Lack of attention to civil casualties in J&K: Omar

While questioning the national silence on deaths in J&K amid India-Pakistan conflict, Omar said loss of innocent lives has been reduced to mere “lip service”, stating, “It's almost as if that didn't happen.”

The Chief Minister said that both civilian and military casualties had taken place across various districts, affecting people of all religious backgrounds. "We've lost people in Rajouri, in Poonch, in Uri, in Baramulla. We've lost Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs. We've lost civilians and Army personnel. If gurdwaras and temples came in the range of shelling, so did madrasas in Poonch," Omar asserted.

Omar meets family of Thapa who was killed in Pak's shelling

Omar on Saturday expressed condolences to family of J-K Administration Services officer Raj Kumar Thapa who was killed in Rajouri in the line of duty today due to Pakistan's shelling.

His post on X read, “Devastating news from Rajouri. We have lost a dedicated officer of the J&K Administration Services. Just yesterday he was accompanying the Deputy CM around the district & attended the online meeting I chaired. Today the residence of the officer was hit by Pak shelling as they targeted Rajouri town killing our Additional District Development Commissioner Raj Kumar Thappa. I've no words to express my shock & sadness at this terrible loss of life. May his soul rest in peace.”