SHOPIAN Unfazed by the criticism, PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday visited family of army deserter turned militant Muhammad Idrees Sultan who was killed near his native village in south Kashmirs Shopian district last year.
Sultan, a resident of Safnagri, a place in Wachi constituency formerly represented by Mehbooba Mufti, was killed along with his associate Amir Hussain Rather alias Abu Sobaan, a resident of Awneera area.
Talking to reporters on sidelines, Mehbooba said Governor Satya Pal Malik should issue directions to government forces not to harass the families of the militants while fighting militancy in the state.
“Our police is a disciplined force. The Governor should issue clear cut directions that families of militants should not be harassed,” Mehbooba said.
She said while the police did not want to indulge in such acts, the directions were seemed to be coming from somewhere in this regard.
“The fight against militancy should not involve the families of the militants and general public. They (families of militants) should not be harassed,” Mehbooba said.
“I am sure that police does not want to do it but the directions are coming from somewhere that families of militants are being harassed. The brothers, sisters or parents (of militants) should not be harassed,” she said.
Mehbooba claimed during her tenure as the chief minister, she had directed the police and government forces that the fight against militancy should not involve harassing the families of militants.
“Fighting the militants is a separate issue … when I was the CM, at Manigam (Police Training Institute), I gave directions to the police and government forces that while you fight militancy, the families of militants should not be harassed,” she said.
This was Mehbooba’s second visit to the family of militants. Earlier, she had visited a similar family in Pulwama district.
No force or military can help us win this war with our people. Only affection of mothers and family will help reclaim our own generation in rage, Mehbooba Mufti tweeted later and shared the pictures also.
No mother wants her son to pick up a gun and lose his life in the prime of his youth. Therefore harassing the family is not going to help the situation, he said, adding, Had my initiative of cease fire sustained many more precious lives would have been saved.
She Is Using Dead Militants To Appease Voters: Omar
In reaction to Mehbooba Mufti’s recent visits to militant families in Pulwama and Shopian, former Chief Minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Thursday said, During her tenure as the chief minister she used militants by sanctioning their deaths to appease the BJP.
Taking to Twitter Omar wrote: The architect of Operation All-out & the overseer of the operations that killed hundreds of militants since 2015 is now going from one militant home to the next trying to rehabilitate a badly damaged reputation.
She used militants by sanctioning their deaths to appease the BJP and now she uses dead militants to try to appease the voter. Just how gullible does she think people are? Omar added.
PDP reacted: Very unfortunate that a person who inherited massacres and whose party is responsible for pushing Kashmiris in uncertainty by rigging elections for power is saying this all. You should rather act as party & reachout to people as its a collective responsibility @OmarAbdullah.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
