Srinagar, July 14. Jammu Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, on Monday took a sharp dig at the local media for what he described as a deliberate blackout of the Martyrs Day incident.
Taking to the microblogging platform X, the Chief Minister accused a majority of newspapers, both from Jammu and Srinagar, and in both English and vernacular languages, of cowardice for failing to report that the entire elected government had been locked up on Martyrs’ Day.
“You will be able to distinguish the cowards from the ones with guts,” Omar wrote. “The cowards have completely buried the fact that the entire elected government was locked up yesterday along with most elected representatives.”
Omar praised the “few newspapers with guts” that chose to publish the truth prominently. “The newspapers with some guts have put it on the front page,” he said, calling out others for being complicit through silence. “Shame on the sellouts who buried the story, I hope the size of the envelope was worth it,” he added, in a biting reference to alleged inducements behind the blackout.
On July 13, Omar and other leaders were confined to their homes, reportedly under orders from the Lieutenant Governor’s administration, preventing them from visiting the graveyard where 22 Kashmiri protesters were killed in 1931 by Dogra forces. [KNT]
