Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 14: People’s Democratic Party (PDP), president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said that militancy victims’ lives are being uprooted in J&K as many contractors earning their livelihood are being black-listed.
Mehbooba flashed a letter to the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, after meeting a delegation of contractors recently blacklisted by the UT administration. The letter denounces the administration’s decision to blacklist contractors on mere assumptions of links with militants.
Mehbooba’s letter mentions that majority of the contractors blacklisted by the LG administration don’t have a militant past and have had no involvement in violent activities. Others had given up the path of militancy long before turning contractors.
The letter also highlights the policy adopted by previous governments vis-a-vis those who gave up the path of violence and wanted to return to normal life.
“Their decision to do so was fraught with many dangerous consequences. Many were gunned down for making a choice that was viewed as a betrayal”, quotes the letter while describing the difficult transition of these contractors and others who shunned the gun.
In her letter, Mehbooba recalls that it was Mufti Mohammad Syed, the then Chief Minister of J&K, who advocated for financial aid to victims of militancy including the orphans of insurgents. The rehabilitation package was implemented during the tenure of PM Vajpayee.
She urged the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to reconsider his decision on humanitarian grounds.
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