JAMMU, Apr 27: J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday condemned the shooting incident at a venue in Washington where the US President Donald Trump was present, saying violence has no place in politics and expressing relief that he survived.
Abdullah batted strongly for facilitating lasting peace in West Asia and said that dialogue must continue, even if through alternative means.
“Thank God he survived, and I did not want anything to happen to him,” Abdullah said while responding to a query on the sidelines of a function here.
Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J D Vance and other top officials were evacuated unharmed from the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association at the Washington Hilton hotel after a man armed with multiple weapons fired shots outside the hotel ballroom on Sunday.
Describing politics as “a very dirty thing,” he said that differences should be expressed verbally and democratically, and not through violence. “Harming someone is never justified anywhere. Such life-threatening attacks are unacceptable, and I hope incidents like this never happen to any political leader,” he told reporters.
Referring to the situation in J&K, the chief minister said that the region has witnessed decades of violence and attacks on political leaders. “No one understands this better than we do in J&K. Over the past 30–35 years, many people from different political parties—be it BJP, National Conference, Congress or CPI(M)—have lost their workers and leaders to bullets and terrorism. This should never have happened,” he said.
On international developments following mediation, Abdullah also reacted to the cancellation of US envoy-level talks scheduled in Pakistan concerning Iran. He said that dialogue must continue, even if through alternative means. “It is fine if talks are held over the phone, but they should take place,” he said. Emphasising the need for stability, he said, “We want peace to be restored and the ongoing tensions to end once and for all. Iran should be allowed to live in peace. Whatever has happened is done, but now the focus should be on organising lasting peace.”
