Continue yatra, says Lt Gen GS Hooda

Linking the incident of terror attack on Amarnath Yatra pilgrims with the killing of army officer Umar Faiyaz and police officer Ayub Pandit, Lt Gen (Retd) GS Hooda stated that the radical groups are trying to provoke the sentiments and create a divide between Kashmir and rest of the country. Hooda also said that the country should not succumb to these tactics, and Yatra should continue to give strong message to terror groups.

On the backdrop of the terror attack in which seven pilgrims were killed, DNA spoke to Hooda, who was commanding the Northern command when Indian army undertook the surgical strike across the Line of Control (LoC) to destroy terrorists camps last year.

He said, "The last attack on Amarnath Yatra was in the year 2007. Now after ten years, the terrorists have attacked pilgrims."

"By carrying out such acts in Kashmir, these radical groups want India to react in a strong manner which will create a greater divide between Kashmir and rest of India. Therefore, we need to be careful while reacting to such incidents and we should not overreact to the situation," he added.