Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said he did not agree with the slapping of the National Security Act (NSA) on Varun Gandhi for his alleged hate speech.

“NSA has different connotations,” Omar, who heads the National Conference-Congress coalition Government in the state, told reporters. “There are several other laws to deal with the matter. “Varun should face the weight of law for what he said, but NSA has a very different meaning,” he added.

While commenting on Varun, Omar appeared to have kept in mind his own stance on the application of harsh preventive laws especially the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) while contesting the Assembly elections in the Valley nearly four months ago.

Unlike his predecessor Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was against dilution of special powers to troops deployed on counter insurgency operations in the state, Omar after taking over as the Chief Minister had taken up with the Centre the issue of withdrawal of AFSPA.

Omar also dismissed any impact of Varun’s hate speech on the country. “India is much more stronger than that. I don’t think that one hate speech can make India crumble and threaten its security,” he said.

Political analysts said by neither being too soft or harsh in his words, Omar was possibly trying to ward off any wrong interpretation of his statement by arch political rivals PDP and BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.