Jammu, Mar 20: No terrorist was given government jobs by the previous Jammu and Kashmir dispensation, National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said Monday, asserting that his party would not support any policy to punish relatives of terrorists as it is against natural justice.
Interacting with reporters after addressing a public rally — his first in the city after the abrogation of Article 370 — Omar Abdullah also raised the issue of “misuse of police against the civilian population”.
“No terrorist was given a (government) job but we did not punish people because they were relatives of terrorists. Is it fair for me to punish you for the crime committed by your father or a son? Tomorrow, if God forbid a close relative of (Lt Governor) Manoj Sinha Sahab commits a crime, should he be sent to jail?” the former chief minister said.
He was responding to a question on Sinha’s recent allegations that previous governments in Jammu and Kashmir provided jobs to terrorists and their families and facilitated one lakh backdoor appointments.
