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| God was with me': Farooq breaks silence after brazen assassination attempt | | Home Minister Amit Shah calls to inquire; Parliament erupts; security lapses come under sharp scrutiny | | 
Jammu, March 13 — Standing strong and composed before the media on Thursday, former Chief Minister and National Conference president Dr. Farooq Abdullah spoke for the first time since a gunman came within moments of ending his life at a Jammu wedding reception the previous evening.
"By the grace of God, my security was with me, and my life was saved," he said.
The words were simple. The weight behind them was not. "I Heard Firecrackers — Then They Rushed Me Into a Car"
Dr. Abdullah recounted the terrifying sequence of events with striking calm. He had been preparing to leave the wedding function at Royal Park in Greater Kailash when the first sounds reached him — what he initially took to be the pop and crackle of celebratory firecrackers. He never saw the gun. "Immediately, I was taken away in a car," he said. "Later, I was told that a man with a pistol had fired two shots."
When asked about the attacker — 64-year-old Kamal Singh Jamwal of Purani Mandi, now in police custody — Abdullah was unequivocal: "I neither know this man, nor do I have any information about him."
In an emotional moment, Abdullah set aside political language entirely to honour the men who saved his life. He heaped praise on the National Security Guard commandos and local police personnel who acted with split-second instinct to overpower the attacker, saying he had "no words" to adequately express his gratitude for the lives they risked on his behalf.
He did, however, flag a troubling detail: despite the presence of numerous prominent personalities at the wedding venue that evening, not a single police officer had been deployed there at the time of the attack. It was only his personal NSG detail that stood between him and catastrophe.
Abdullah confirmed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached out to him personally by telephone following the incident, inquiring about his well-being and offering assurances that the matter would be fully investigated.
Striking a broader note, the veteran leader said that while such attacks were possible in an atmosphere of societal hatred, no religion — not one — preaches hatred. "Every religion," he said, "teaches only love."
Jammu and Kashmir Police confirmed Thursday that Kamal Singh Jamwal has been formally detained in connection with the attempted murder. The loaded pistol used in the attack has been recovered. Jamwal, a resident of Purani Mandi, is currently under sustained interrogation as investigators work to establish the full scope of the conspiracy — if any — behind the attack.
NSG personnel, police said, responded within seconds, physically subduing the attacker and preventing what could have been a political assassination at the heart of Jammu city.
In the hours following the attack, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah rushed to be by his father's side.
The reverberations reached Parliament on Thursday, where the incident ignited a sharp political exchange. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge raised pointed questions about the security of senior leaders in a Union Territory where law enforcement falls directly under central government control.
"Farooq Abdullah's safety is in danger," Kharge declared, questioning whether the arrangement served the National Conference leader's interests.
Union Minister JP Nadda pushed back firmly, calling the attack a "serious and worrying matter" that would be "properly investigated," while confirming that the perpetrator was already in custody and that security arrangements around Abdullah would be substantially enhanced. He cautioned against reflexive politicisation, urging that "every matter should not be politicized."
Beyond the politics, the incident has exposed what officials themselves are acknowledging as serious lapses in the security architecture surrounding high-profile leaders in Jammu and Kashmir. Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary was among those who voiced alarm, calling the breach deeply concerning.
The central question — how an armed individual managed to penetrate the security perimeter and position himself within firing range of one of the region's most prominent political figures — remains under active investigation. Authorities have signalled that sweeping corrective measures are forthcoming.
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