Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday condemned the “unjust and illegal war imposed on Iran” and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use his influence to end the war in the interest of humanity.
He made the remark in the Legislative Assembly as leader of the House after several Congress members pressed for it, even as BJP lawmakers maintained that the Iran crisis is an international issue and does not fall within the ambit of the House.
The Prime Minister said: “On behalf of myself and my colleagues, I strongly condemn this unjust and illegal war imposed on Iran. I express my sincere condolences for the loss of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his comrades and all those who lost their lives in this conflict.”
“I also make a sincere appeal to our prime minister to use all available diplomatic channels and relations to help end this war as soon as possible. This will not only benefit us, but will benefit all of humanity,” Abdullah said.
The Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly witnessed chaotic scenes on Friday soon after the second phase of the budget session began after a five-week recess, with the National Conference, CPI (Maoist), Congress, Peoples Democratic Party and independent bar associations raising slogans in support of Iran and BJP legislators demanding establishment of a National Law University in Jammu.
When the noisy scenes continued, Council Speaker Abdul Rahim adjourned the session for half an hour.
While the House of Representatives was meeting after adjourning the session, the National Conference, Tanveer Sadiq, sought a statement from the leader of the House against the war on Iran.
This was followed by short speeches by various MLAs in support and against the demand.
Abdullah said at the beginning: “The Council is not united on this issue, and there is no single opinion. If you wish, you can hold a discussion so that different points of view can be expressed. If you speak on behalf of the demand and opposition appears after that, that will not be appropriate,” calling on the Council President to make a decision on how to move forward.
After listening to the opinions of a number of members from both chambers, Rather asked the Prime Minister to make a statement in the House of Representatives, pointing out that Parliament had also done so.
“I don’t think anyone can stand here and support the way an unjust and illegal war was imposed on Iran,” Abdullah said. “No amount of condemnation will be enough to explain how humanity was crushed, and the brutal way in which the Iranian Supreme Leader and his closest companions and relatives were killed.”
Referring to the bombing of a school, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of female students, Abdullah said that it is difficult to remember such a horrific incident in the recent past.
He added: “And what is the goal? Until now, it is not clear. If you listen to the statements coming from America, it seems that they are not sure. In the morning they talk about regime change, in the afternoon they talk about security concerns, and in the evening they talk about oil prices. Maybe they themselves do not know why the Iranian people have suffered during the past three weeks.”
The Prime Minister said that BJP members are of the view that the House should not discuss matters that do not directly affect the region.
The Prime Minister said: “How can they say that this does not affect us? Many of our citizens are in Iran, so it affects us directly. The queues outside our petrol stations today – does this not affect us directly? Above all, the pain and suffering that our people feel, this also has an impact.”
“It’s true, we can’t stop the war just sitting here,” he said, reminding local aides that the central government has repeatedly claimed to have strong relations with many countries.
He said, “Our relations with America and Israel are good. With Iran as well, we have been strong historically. I witnessed this personally when I worked as Minister of State for External Affairs with Atal Bihari Vajpayee. India also maintains good relations with countries neighboring Iran.”
“Therefore, there should be no objection if this Council collectively appeals to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use his office and personal diplomatic connections to help end this war as soon as possible, so that the suffering of the people there ends and Iran can once again engage peacefully with the world,” Abdullah said.
