Srinagar: Lashing out at the Meghalaya Governor for supporting an appeal to boycott Kashmiri goods, National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah said that people like Tathagata Roy wants “Kashmir without Kashmiris”.

“These are the bigots driving Kashmir over the abyss. While you are at it Tathagata why don’t you stop using our rivers to generate your electricity as well?” Mr Abdullah, who is the former chief minister of the state, wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.

“People like Tathagata want Kashmir but without Kashmiris. They’d sooner see us driven in to the sea. He’ll be best placed to know he can’t have one without the other so what’s it to be?” he added.

The NC vice-president was reacting to the Meghalaya Governor’s tweet, which read, “An appeal from a retired colonel of the Indian Army: Don’t visit Kashmir, don’t go to Amarnath for the next two years. Don’t buy articles from Kashmir emporia or Kashmiri tradesman who come every winter. Boycott everything Kashmiri. I am inclined to agree.”

The controversial remark by the Meghalaya Governor comes in the backdrop of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) fidayeen attack that left 40 CRPF men dead on Srinagar-Jammu national highway in south Kashmir district of Pulwama.