Sarpanch and son killed by militants: Omar condemns attack

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today condemned the attacks on political workers in Pulwama district, saying these were carried out to instill fear among the people to enforce a poll boycott. Omar said the decision to boycott polls should be based on conviction and not fear. [caption id=“attachment_1491037” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Omar Abdullah. AFP.[/caption] “I unequivocally condemn the attacks in Pulwama that left three political workers dead. By all means call for a boycott of the polls,” Omar wrote on twitter.com. “The decision to boycott should be based on conviction not fear. We don’t terrorise people to vote so why instill fear to enforce boycott,” he said. A Congress party sarpanch, his son and a village official were shot dead by militants in separate incidents in Tral area of Pulwama district of south Kashmir late last night. Omar said the people behind the attack have accepted the weakness of their argument and know that people will come out to vote in the election in the absence of any fear. “The use of violence is an acceptance of the weakness of your argument because you know that in the absence of fear, people WILL vote,” he said. Last night’s attack takes the number of political killings to three in Kashmir since the Lok Sabha poll schedule was announced. IANS