KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
A Srinagar based civil society group, Kashmir Centre for Social and Development Studies (KCSDS), Tuesday strongly condemned “conferring awards on those who have played or are playing a dubious role” viz-a-viz Kashmir.
Commenting on conferring of Padma awards to former J&K Governor Jagmohan Malhotra and film actor Anupam Kher, KCSDS termed it “as malicious attempts to hurt the sentiments of majority of people of the state and humiliate and insult the martyrs”. “It seems that the state is always on the lookout for such opportunities as will inflict psychological pain and torture on Kashmiris by awarding their killers, rapists, hate mongers and all those who have played a murky role in inflicting indescribable sufferings on the people of Kashmir. History is testimony to the fact that several hundred civilians were killed and thousands injured on the orders of state administration led by Jagmohan in 1990. His reign in Kashmir will always haunt Kashmiris as the darkest chapter in their history. Coming generations will judge him as a mass murderer responsible for innocent killings and for engineering the mass eviction of Pandit brethren, with Hitlerian designs in mind,” a KCSDS statement said this evening.
The statement said that KCSDS has been demanding an international probe to find out as to who is actually responsible for the unfortunate eviction. “Such a probe will clear the haze that hangs over the tragic event in our history,” the statement added. “Anupam Kher’s hate campaign, evident on electronic and print media has earned him the national award.”
“While KCSDS believes that his hateful pronouncements do not represent the views of the majority of Pandits nevertheless it is evident that the state rewards those who are carrying hate campaign against Muslims of the valley and compels saner elements in Pandit community to fall in line which is fraught with unforeseen disastrous consequences for the intercommunity relationship,” the statement said.
