KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Commenting on Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Lahore, Pakistan the Hurriyat (m) Chairperson Mirwaiz Umar Farooq welcomed the development and said that “it is a positive move”.
Mirwaiz took to social networking site, twitter and wrote, “Modi’s surprise visit to Pakistan a positive move, people of Kashmir welcome any opportunity that bring India Pak close, political will & Vision needed on all sides to address issues specially Kashmir.”
Earlier in the day, calling for immediate disbanding of the notorious Village Defence Committees (VDCs) in Jammu, Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal regions, Mirwaiz said 200 murder cases stand registered against the VDCs yet the government continue to patronize them.
He said these VDCs were organized on the behest of communal elements of Jammu region with the purpose of harassing and thus cleansing this region of the Muslim population.
Addressing Friday congregational prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, Mirwaiz condemned the recent killings of a mother-son duo of Shamim Akhter and four-year-old Tawheed Ahmad in Kalakote Rajouri, and a political activist, Ishtiyaq Ahmad Chowdhary in Samote, Budhal at the hands of VDC members, the Mirwaiz called for immediate disbanding of VDCs.
Stating that the VDCs had not been created for the defence of the people but to suppress the Muslims of Jammu, Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal region by the government, he said VDCs had given a free hand to commit atrocities on the Muslims of the state.
Drawing comparison between VDCs and notorious renegade group Ikhwan and State Task Force of Police, which the government created in 1990s to commit atrocities on the people of Kashmir, the Hurriyat (m) Chairperson said VDCs were similarly created under a well-designed ploy to commit cruelty on the Muslims of Jammu.
Terming the vesting of unbridled powers with VDCs as highly objectionable, he said although 200 cases of murders had been registered against this brute force, successive governments continued to patronize them.
Appealing the international rights bodies to use their influence on the Government of India and state government for their aggressive and suppressive policies against a particular religious community, the Mirwaiz said the situation has reached a stage where even the Muslim population, especially in Jammu region, was feeling unsafe in Jammu Kashmir, despite the state being a Muslim-majority state.
