SRINAGAR: Levelling serious allegations against National Conference leaders, the chairperson of a Non-Governmental Organization and former president of women wing National Conference (Ganderbal) Saturday alleged that a particular former minister of NC in league with a top leader left no stone unturned in exploiting the innocent and poor women sexually from past decade and she was victimized when she raised her voice against those flesh thirsty politicians.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Waheeda Shah, who runs NGO Jammu and Kashmir Haba Khatoon Foundation, said that she filed a case against a particular NC MLA and other leaders of the party after her organization received numerous complaints from women that they had been sexually exploited by this particular MLA and his aides. The NC MLA who recently lost elections and his aides sexually exploited those women before assuring them they would help them to get adjusted in different government departments, she alleged.
Waheeda Shah said that, she was attacked and kidnapped by some NC activists when she moved court and filed a complaint in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar. These NC goons not only kidnapped me but tortured me as well to shut me up. They asked me to withdraw the case and sign some blank affidavits. I had no option but to withdraw the complaint and sign some blank affidavits, she said.
Waheeda said that she consulted a lawyer but, that particular lawyer who frequently pleads the cases of separatist leaders to her surprise informed the NC leaders and they all forced her to withdraw the complaint and not to avail the services of other lawyer. I suffered just because I raised my voice against top politicians who at their will exploited the hapless women sexually. NC leadership utilized all their resources to gag me and banish me from the state but I resisted and did not budge. I am running an NGO and due to my steadfastness against these licentious politicians, my funding was stopped and even at the behest of a former Kashmir based Union Minister, the programmes and other camps that I organized to benefit people were termed fake and fictitious, she said.
Whaeeda Shah told reporters that in her absence her lawyer in league with the tainted accused politicians produced fake witnesses against her and requested the court to wind up the case. She claimed that some politicians encourage sex trade in Kashmir and there are already numbers of prostitution centres that have been commercialized and approved by the previous coalition government.
Some National Conference politicians against whom I raised voice have been using their good offices to harass me and my family. I am feeling unsafe and I appeal to the Governor of the State to provide me security and initiate action against these corrupt and tainted politicians, she said.
When asked why she maintained silence all these years, Waheeda Shah said that NC was ruling the state from past six years and she was feeling pressure from different quarters to maintain silence over the issue. Now NC is gone and here is Governors rule, so I felt it is right time to open my mouth and expose these politicians, she said. (CNS)
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