Pahalgam attack shakes up J-K politics, parties on both sides lower heat towards Centre

“As a chief minister, as a tourism minister, I invited them to Kashmir and as a host, it was my responsibility to send them back safely. I couldn’t do that and I have no words to apologise,” a remorseful Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in the Assembly on April 28, days after 25 tourists and a local were killed in a terrorist attack in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

Omar’s speech, seen as apologetic by some as security and law and order are not his domain, indicates the impact the terrorist attack has had on Kashmir’s mainstream politics. While the elected government that has been demanding the return of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir may have to shun its demand for some time, the Opposition, especially those based in the Valley, is hesitant to take on the Centre and the government of the Union Territory on issues that may come across as taking the soft separatism line.