KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Kashmir based civil society group, Kashmir Civil Society for developmental Studies (KCSDS) Thursday expressed grief over the “continued barbarity” of Village Defence Committee (VDC) members in Jammu Region.
“VDCs are emboldened by the fascist statement of Nirmal Singh that the government is not going to disarm and disband VDCS which is actually a government sponsored militia to terrorize and brutalise an entire community of Muslims in this region,” a statement issued by KCSDS said this evening.
A woman and her 4 year old child were shot dead by a VDC member in Rajouri early this morning.
“The death of Ishtiyaq Ahmad Choudhary earlier in the week has already put spotlight on the continued existence of VDCs in Jammu region which has been using its arms to subdue the Muslim community which is against all norms of justice and equity in the so-called democratic country,” the statement said.
KCSDS takes strong exception to the “VDC culture” and demands the immediate disarming of VDCS and dissolution of village defence committees. “Its existence has led to an unequal relationship between communities because out of nearly 27000 VDC members, only 4 percent are Muslims. To keep Muslim community at the mercy of this armed gang this force has deliberately been created to make Muslims subservient to Hindus. We demand that these people should be kept in a reformatory after being disarmed.”
