Police Registers FIR In Shopian Firing; State Govt Has Lost Credibilty: Mehbooba

KL Report

SRINAGAR

Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) president  Mehbooba Mufti was Thursday assured by the DIG south Kashmir, Vinay Kumar that the shifting of CRPF camp from Gagren would start from Friday morning. She visited the district head quarter today and told the administration that she would sit on an indefinite dharna in the centre of the curfewed town till the two demands made by the people are met: the shifting of Gagren camp and registering of FIR in the shooting incident that killed four boys on September 7.

According to CNS, the superintendent of police met the PDP president at the government guest house and promised that FIR would be registered by this afternoon, but Mehbooba Mufti insisted that she would not leave the town and would sit on dharna unless the FIR was registered and its receipt handed over to the father of Tawseef one of the victims of CRPF firing. The family had been pleading for the last twelve days with the police to accept their FIR but the police had avoided to do so.

According to reports, later Gh Mohammad Bhat father of Tawseef received copy of the FIR from police, Mehbooba met him and his brother Ali Mohammad Bhat and conveyed her condolences to the family. The PDP president had earlier also attempted to visit Shopian but had been prevented by the administration from proceeding to the besieged town.

Later the DIG South Kashmir Vijay Kumar met the PDP president and discussed with her the shifting of CRPF camp from Gagren which has been a source of trouble for the entire area for several years.

“There have been numerous complaints of serious human rights violations against the camp ranging from torture, illegal custody and enforced disappearance,” Mehbooba told the DIG adding that that, “since the state government had totally lost the credibility in the eyes of the people, therefore unless shifting process of CRPF is started, people would not believe it to be true.”

The DIG according to statement assured Mehbooba that the shifting process would start from Friday morning and would be completed in few days.

Mehbooba urged the district administration to lift the curfew and restrictions immediately so that the people of the area are able to pick up threads of life again after the tragic incidents that resulted in the death of five youth. She said any prolongation in restrictions would result in severe economic damage to the area where the fruit trade has taken a severe hit at the peak trading season.

Talking to media, Mehbooba said the present coalition has exposed itself as the most heartless and tyrannical government that state has ever had. She said in 2009 the heroic struggle by the people of Shopian to seek justice for Asiya and Nelofar had added a new chapter in the state’s history of resistance against the human rights abuse. But, the government responded by prosecuting those who struggled to seek justice while it did everything to cover up the atrocity against the two innocent women and protect the criminals.

Mehbooba  said in 2010 blood was spilled by government forces in every corner of Kashmir resulting in 120 innocent killings. But not a single case was investigated not to speak of punishing the perpetrators, she said and added that instead police cases were registered against thousands of youth who continue to face repression at the hands of police.

Expressing hope that the killing of youth in shopian would not meet the same fate as the rape and murder case of Asiya and Neelofar, Mehbooba said the registration of FIR and shifting of Gagren camp are the result of struggle made by the people of the district who have forced the government into action.