Calls for ‘de-escalation’ from Kashmir, Omar Abdullah says onus on Pakistan

India did not create the crisis, he added. “We had to respond as our people were attacked in Pahalgam and innocent civilians were killed.”

Describing the strikes on Jammu Thursday night as “one of the most severe assaults’’ since the 1971 Indo-Pak war, he said: “The way civilians have been targeted and the kind of attacks carried out in the city, I don’t think Jammu has been targeted like this earlier.”

He also called the situation in Poonch, which has been the worst hit and seen the most casualties since the cross-border attacks by Pakistan began, as the “most critical”.

During the overnight shelling all along the Line of Control and the International Border in J&K, one more civilian, Mohammad Abrar, was killed, taking the tally to 13. More than 40 people have been injured in the strikes, with 80% of the population of Poonch town taking shelter in places like Surankote, Rajouri and as far away as Jammu city.

A call for de-escalation was also made by former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti and the Valley’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who urged both India and Pakistan to take measures for this.

“Children, women and the elderly are dying and getting displaced on both sides of the border. There is an urgent need for restraint. The heads of both countries should carefully consider the situation and aim for de-escalation,” Mufti said in Srinagar.

She said military action only “addresses the symptoms, not the cause of the illness. It does not guarantee a solution or peace”.

Mirwaiz said that “whenever tensions rise between India and Pakistan, the brunt is primarily borne by the people of J&K”, and urged both countries to urgently de-escalate and not tread on this “dangerous path, which can only lead to destruction”.

Deputy CM Surinder Choudhary said the ongoing hostilities shall be India’s “last war with Pakistan’’. “Let it be decided once for all… the coming generations will be comfortable,’’ said Choudhary, visiting residents near the Line of Control in Nowshera and later those being treated in Rajouri for injuries sustained in Pakistani strikes in Poonch.

Whenever there is escalation, the main victims of the Pakistani shelling are the people of Pir Panjal (border Rajouri and Poonch districts), he said, adding that they are fed up. “Our ancestors saw this, we too are witnessing it, and our children will also see the same thing… Is war the only thing in our destiny?’’ he said. The Deputy CM added that the people in border areas want that “this war shall be the last war with Pakistan’’.

Calling for “political intervention” by both India and Pakistan, Mufti said civilians on both sides of the border were paying a “huge price” for the hostilities. “I urge the leadership of both sides to stop these attacks. How long will the people living on our borders deal with this hardship? How long will mothers lose their children?… What is their mistake in all of this?” she said, breaking down.

The PDP chief was addressing a press conference, held in the wake of the overnight shelling in Kashmir border areas leading to the death of a 45-year-old woman in Uri and injuries to three.

Mufti referred to the message Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given regarding the Russia-Ukraine war. “The PM himself stated that ‘this is not the era for war’ and that conflicts should be handled through political interventions.”

Abdullah, who arrived in Jammu on Friday in the wake of the strikes by Pakistan, visited relief camps in Samba district set up for people migrating from border areas. He said all necessary facilities, including medical, have been arranged at the camps. He also visited Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu, where some of those injured in the strikes are admitted.

The CM lauded the Indian defence forces for their swift response in neutralizing the cross-border aerial threats. Multiple locations in Jammu and even an ammunition depot in Anantnag were among the targets, but all the attempts were foiled, he said.