Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and former CM Mehbooba Mufti on Friday strongly criticized the “silence” of global powers over Israel’s attack on Iran, calling it a dangerous display of “double standards”.
Omar said that as far as he knows, Iran did not give Israel any provocation to launch an attack.
“Israel went ahead on their own, calling it a pre-emptive attack, and waged war on a country. If the global powers remain silent on this, it will be truly unfortunate. What Israel has done is very similar to what Russia did to Ukraine,” Omar told reporters in Srinagar.
Omar pointed out the hypocrisy in international responses.
“You raise your voice against Russia, launch campaigns. But when Israel attacks Iran, America, Europe, and others remain silent. If it is wrong for one country to attack another, it should be wrong also when Israel attacks Iran,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the Middle East conflict will, of course, escalate, and it will have an immediate impact on the people in the country.
“ It (Iran- Israel conflict) will, of course, escalate and will have an immediate impact on us. It has an impact on our fuel prices. It has an impact on our stock market. It has an impact on the flights that have to fly to the West. But more than that, it has an impact on the sentiment of people,” Omar said.
Earlier, in a post on X Chief Minister urged the Ministry of External Affairs to ensure the safety of Kashmiri students in Iran.
Israel on Friday launched a major attack on Iran, including nuclear sites, killing several top figures.
Meanwhile, former CM and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti said that Israel’s attack on Iran is yet another “brazen act by a state that appears to have gone rogue”.
“The silence of the global community, particularly Western powers led by the United States, is both alarming and telling. This silence amounts to tacit approval,” Mehbooba said in a post on X.
“ In the case of India-Pakistan tensions, the U.S. never fails to assert that its intervention has been crucial in preventing escalation. Yet when it comes to Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza or its latest strike on Iran, that same urgency is conspicuously missing,” she said.
“These glaring double standards endanger global peace and stability. Equally disturbing is the deafening silence of the so-called Muslim countries, which remain shamelessly non-existent in the face of such grave injustice. Their inaction is not just disappointing, it’s a betrayal of the very causes they claim to stand for,” Mehbooba said.
