Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday slammed PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti for not apologising for her remarks at Jantar Mantar, where she allegedly justified the use of force against Kashmiris.

Earlier this week, Mufti appeared to defend past usage of pellet guns in the Valley, saying it was different in Kashmir as the security forces were fighting militancy, while simultaneously opposing police action against student protesters in the national capital.

She had later clarified that she never justified the use of force against Kashmiris.

“Did she apologise? Did she use the word apology? There is a difference between regret and an apology. Was the word apology used? No, right? Then where is the apology?” Abdullah told reporters here when asked if Mehbooba had apologised for her remarks.

The chief minister said there is a difference between expressing regret and issuing an apology.

“You all are sensible people. There is a difference between regret and an apology. I express regret versus I seek an apology — there is a world of difference between the two. She has perhaps stated that ‘if my statement caused pain to anyone…’ When you add an ‘if,’ it means you aren’t really apologising at all,” Abdullah said.

He also sought an apology from PDP MLA Waheed Para for terming Mehbooba’s video “AI-generated.”

“What should we do about those who tried to suppress this for five days? Those who spread lies? And whose lies were exposed today by Mehbooba herself in front of everyone? One of them is a responsible MLA. Now, should he remain an MLA? His lie was exposed by his own (party) president, Abdullah said.

“For five days, he kept repeating that this was AI. Today, Mehbooba herself said that there is no AI involved and that she has said it herself,” the CM added.

Abdullah said while Mehbooba had expressed regret, “Para lied”, saying, “What about the person who tried to lie to the people here for five days?” Even if he doesn’t apologise, he could at least express regret, because these PDP people only speak of regret, no one speaks of an apology.” He was also asked about Mufti’s remarks that the ruling National Conference (NC) was blowing her remarks out of proportion and presenting them as if she had signed the death warrants of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged inside the Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013, and JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat, who was hanged on February 11, 1984.

“As far as certificates (death warrants) are concerned, no one signed them here,” the chief minister said.

To a question about a proposed Bill amending the anti-paper leaks law, Abdullah said, “Let it pass in the Parliament and then be implemented across the country.”

“If, as a result of the students’ protests, the examination process becomes better, that is a good thing. Let the Parliament pass it,” he added.

To a question about the National Conference’s recent statehood protest in Delhi and if the party had any such plans, Abdullah said he has already made it clear that the process would continue.

“If we had achieved something from Delhi, don’t you think you would have known by now? I spoke about this at the (recent) press conference. I said this process will continue. We will inform you what the next program is,” he added.

Asked about the PDP’s criticism that the National Conference protest should not have been limited to statehood, Abdullah said, “Who has stopped them from doing it?”

“They could have raised these things in Delhi, but they didn’t. There they said ‘banta hai’ (this is acceptable),” he said, referring to Mehbooba’s remarks at Jantar Mantar.

“Let them do what they want to. Whatever destruction has happened, has happened because of them. We reached this point only because of them. If they hadn’t allied with the BJP, we wouldn’t be standing here today. Now, if they have realized their mistake and they want to correct it, that’s a good thing,” the CM said, referring to the PDP-BJP alliance in J-K in 2015.

Earlier, the chief minister addressed the valedictory session of the 77th state-level mega job fair at Amarnath Singh College here.

Abdullah said more than 60 recruiting companies participated in the event, many of them from outside the J-K.

“Around 5,300 youth registered for this. And today, during the inauguration, nearly 470 youth were recruited on the spot, and around 430 have been shortlisted. They will go through an interview process, and hopefully, they will also get recruitment orders,” he said.

He said 900 recruitments is a good outcome. “We hope that more such mega job fairs are organized. Our effort is to minimize the unemployment situation here as much as possible”.