Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on late Sunday night stood by National Conference (NC) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, following his tweet that he was being placed under house arrest.
Taking to Twitter, Tharoor said that "every Indian democrat" would stand with the "mainstream" leaders of the state.
"You are not alone Omar Abdullah. Every Indian democrat will stand with the decent mainstream leaders in Kashmir as you face up to whatever the government has in store for our country.
"Parliament is still in session and our voices will not be stilled," Tharoor said
Reacting to the prevalent situation in Jammu and Kashmir, he asked the Centre, "If we alienate them, who's left?"
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"What is going on in J&K? Why would leaders be arrested overnight while having done no wrong? If Kashmiris are our citizens and their leaders our partners, surely the mainstream ones must be kept on board while we act against terrorists & separatists? If we alienate them, who's left?" Tharoor asked.
On late Sunday night, Omar had tweeted: "I believe I'm being placed under house arrest from midnight tonight & the process has already started for other mainstream leaders. No way of knowing if this is true but if it is then I'll see all of you on the other side of whatever is in store. Allah save us."
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Wishing good luck to citizens of the valley, he said whatever almighty Allah has planned it is always for the better.
"To the people of Kashmir, we don't know what is in store for us but I am a firm believer that whatever Almighty Allah has planned it is always for the better, we may not see it now but we must never doubt his ways. Good luck to everyone, stay safe & above all PLEASE STAY CALM," the NC leader said in another tweet.
Soon after Omar's tweet, Mufti, too, took to the micro-blogging site and said, "All people are together in this difficult time and we all will fight together."
"In such difficult times, I'd like to assure our people that come what may, we are in this together and will fight it out. Nothing should break our resolve to strive for what's rightfully ours," she tweeted.
Showing solidarity with each other, both the leaders retweeted each other's tweet.
On Sunday evening, leaders of all major political parties had urged India and Pakistan not to take any step which may disturb the peace and escalate tension between the two countries.
"I appeal to India and Pakistan not to take any step that may escalate tension between the two countries because it will harm both the nations," parties had said in a declaration.
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Kashmir has been on the edge in the wake of a massive security build-up and state government's advisory to Amarnath pilgrims and tourists urging them to curtail their visit.
The government said the step to issue an advisory to tourists was taken after it received intelligence input about a possible terrorist attack on Amarnath pilgrimage.
Governor Satyapal Malik has sought to dispel speculation and asserted that the government was not planning to take any "drastic" step pertaining to the state.
(With inputs from ANI)
