KL Report
Srinagar
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the Congress NC coalition was only enhancing the pain caused by the unholy haste and secrecy adopted in the execution of Mohammad Afzal Guru through its heartless response to people’s sentiment and use of brute force.
In a statement condemning the death of a widow in Kaimoh as a result of reportedly harsh intrusion by government forces into her house, party president Mehbooba Mufti said the refusal by government to hand over the remains of Afzal to the family was a gross violation of their rights and added a new chapter of callousness to the sad Kashmir story.
Reiterating the party view that Afzal was sacrificed for the political interests of ruling coalition Mehbooba said the party stood by its demand for return of his body for burial in Kashmir. “Not just the fundamental human rights of the family are being violated but even the religious requirement of proper and decent last rites have been denied which will leave a deep scar on the psyche of people in the state” she said.
Mehbooba said the intervention of the Supreme Court in the case of Veerapan’s associates and staying of their execution even after the rejection of mercy petition by the President of India has established beyond doubt that Afzal was denied a legal option because of UPA’s political temptations or a deliberate disregard for the rights of a citizen of Kashmir and sentiments of its people. She said the entire sequence of events regarding Afzal reinforces the feeling among the people that Kashmir was treated differently and unjustly, which understandably feeds the larger political imbroglio.
Mehbooba said NC and Congress have shown that whenever they get together to share power the people of the state have to pay a heavy price. “If on previous occasions their lust of power resulted in mass destruction of Kashmir, this time they have capped their four year disastrous rule with an event that would define the psyche of generations and impact course of history as few other events have done” she said. The least the government could do to atone its sins in Afzal affair is to return the body for its proper burial by the family, she added.
Strongly condemning the use of force by government to silence voices of protest Mehbooba said the level of fear created by it is unprecedented. If the youth prefer to drown rather than face arrest by police as happened in Ganderbal, a lady Nazira Begum died of a heart attack in Kaimoh. She said the government is trying to enforce peace of graveyard in the state after provoking the people through its atrocious policies. She said the mass arrest of youth resorted to by the government has no parallel even in the tragic history of J&K itself. “This government is again creating the same atmosphere in which before 2002 the NC and its infamous task force and SOG pushed a gentleman of great qualities like Mohammad Afzal Guru into a situation that led to his underserved execution” she said.
Mehbooba said hundreds of youth have been arrested in Kashmir and demanded their immediate release. She said the government must recognize the hurt its action have caused to people and must try to accommodate genuine expression of protest which is the right of people in any set up.
