Omar Abdullah appealed to people to maintain communal harmony. (File Photo)
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah today said attempts were being made to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the state and appealed to people to maintain communal harmony, a day after protests broke out in Jammu over desecration of a temple.
He said it was the government's responsibility to strengthen the administration so that such incidents do not take place.
"The chief minister is in Jammu and we have been told that she is monitoring the situation on the ground. We will wait for her to make a statement. We will listen from her on what policy she has to make the situation peaceful again in the state," he told reporters here on the sidelines of a party function.
Mr Abdullah appealed to people to maintain communal harmony.
He said attempts were being made to vitiate the atmosphere in the state but the government has not come up with the right response yet to deal with it.
"Attack in Anantnag, on national highway, then an attack on the other side of the tunnel in Kud, then the continuous infiltration attempts, it is obvious that attempts are being made to vitiate the atmosphere and we have not seen the right response from the government yet," Mr Abdullah said.
Referring to the Anantnag by-poll, the National Conference leader accused Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti of using illegal means to win the election.
"We are working hard but the government is also not lagging behind in using its influence. Where the other parts of the state are facing shortage of ration, we are hearing that Anantnag is filled with ration.
"The sugar quota of the whole state has been taken there. While the timber depots elsewhere are empty, there is perhaps no depot in that constituency which is empty...The government is using all illegal means to win this seat," Mr Abdullah said.
He claimed the chief minister was taking the people of Anantnag for granted as she was too arrogant to go to there and seek votes.
"We have the same candidate as in the last elections. Fortunately, while after winning election, (former chief minister) Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) sahib was not seen there, our candidate was there only. Now, in this election, the chief minister has only gone there once and that too for a party
function. What will that candidate do after the election," he asked.
On the call by separatists for boycott of the polls, Mr Abdullah said it was nothing new.
"Tell me which election was there since 1996 in which there was no boycott call? Calling for a boycott of the election is nothing new here. We have seen this continuously since 1996 and more often than not, the people have ignored this call whether in the Panchayat elections or in recent assembly and parliament elections or for the last ten years now," he said.
The NC working president said it remains to be seen as to what extent the boycott call would have an impact in Anantnag.
"But I hope that people come out and participate in large numbers because there is a great degree of resentment against this PDP-BJP alliance and I hope that reflects in the voting when it takes place," he said.