I will not use Pahalgam attack as opportunity to demand statehood: Omar Abdullah

"Though Kashmir’s security is not under us, I will not use this opportunity (Pahalgam attack) to demand statehood now," he said.

"This is not the time, as with what face can I demand it after the death of 26 people in Pahalgam," he said.

Also Read: Pahalgam terror attack hollowed all of us from core: Omar Abdullah

Abdullah said people should only grieve the death of 26 people in the terror attack that occurred in the Union territory last week.

"All we need to do now is condemn the attack in the strongest terms and show our heartfelt condolences for the 26 killed," he said.

"I demanded statehood before, and I will demand it again, but not using this occasion," Abdullah said.

Pahalgam Massacre

Twenty-six people, including 23 Hindu male tourists, were killed by terrorists in Baisaran meadows, a popular destination in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, on April 22.

The terrorists- belonging to The Resistance Front (TRF), which is an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)- asked the victims to chant Islamic verses (kalma) and made them pull down their pants to be sure of their their non-Muslim religious identities (read circumcision)  before gunning them down before their families, including wives, children and daughters.

The massacre triggered a nationwide outrage and escalated India-Pakistan tensions as New Delhi vowed to avenge the killings.

In an immediate response  India suspended the landmark Indus River water-sharing treaty and closed the Attari-Wagah road border which acts a lifeline of Indo-Pak trade and people-to-people ties, besides expelling diplomats, downsizing high commissions and issuing a 48-hour deadline to Pakistani visa holders present in India to leave.