Hassan Nasrallah killing: Ex-J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti suspends poll campaign to express solidarity with the Lebanese people

Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and President of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti on Sep 28 announced to cancel her election campaign in the union territory in solidarity with the people of Lebanon following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut a day before.

“Cancelling my campaign tomorrow in solidarity with the martyrs of Lebanon and Gaza, especially Hassan Nasarullah. We stand with the people of Palestine and Lebanon in this hour of immense grief and exemplary resistance.” Mehbooba said in a post on X.

Pertinently, campaigning for the final phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will end on Sep 29, and voting will occur on Oct 1. Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of the Hezbollah — Iran-backed group — was killed along with his daughter Zainab on Sep 27 after Israeli forces launched a series of strikes in the densely populated Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut.

The attack aimed to target Nasrallah also killed six more people. Announcing Hezbollah leader’s killing, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in a post on X said, "Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world."

Some other key Hezbollah operatives including Ali Karaki, Muhammad Ali Ismail, and Hossein Ahmed Ismail were also killed in the subsequent airstrikes, which continued till late Sep 28.

"The strike was carried out while the top brass of Hezbollah were at their headquarters and engaged in coordinating terror activities against the citizens of the State of Israel," the IDF claimed.

Meanwhile, a protest march was held in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam and Srinagar on Sep 28 against the killing of Hassan Nasrallah by the IDF. The protestors hit the streets in large numbers and raised pro-Palestine slogans while carrying pictures of Hassan Nasrallah.

Maulana Yasoob Abbas, the General Secretary of the All India Shia Personal Law The Board (AISPLB) on Sep 28, also paid tribute to Nasrallah and called his death “a great loss for the Muslim world”.

Abbas urged India's Shia community to observe three days of mourning and hoist black flags in their houses to express solidarity with the people of Lebanon. He also called for the United Nations to intervene and put an end to the violence which has claimed hundreds of lives in Lebanon in recent days.