Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 5: The J&K National Conference today condemned the cowardly, barbaric killing of its two party functionaries Mushtaq Ahmad Wani and Nazir Ahmad Bhat in the Habba Kadal locality of Srinagar.
Party president Dr Farooq Abdullah denounced the act as heinous and despicable. Expressing his grief over the incident Dr Farooq said, “People who have committed this dastardly act have no humanity. I empathize with the bereaved families and hope they overcome this trauma that has shattered their lives forever.”
Dr Abdullah expressing anguish said that the party had already decided not to participate in the ongoing ULB and Panchayat polls and that such attack on NC workers must be thoroughly probed. “We demand high level, time bound, impartial probe into the incident. The guilty must not be spared,” he said.
Party vice president Omar Abdullah while condemning the brutal attack said, “I am shocked beyond words; it is an act of terrorism and a ploy to stifle our voice.”
Omar said that the appalling security situation has gone out of the hands of Governor’s administration. “The incumbent administration had already removed security from some of our functionaries, all this needs to be unearthed and brought before people. There seems to be some sort of a design into the killings of our party men today and its upto the investigating agencies to identify the killers and bring them to justice. The killings are taking place in broad day light and that too in an urban heart. We expect that the governor moves its men and machinery to ensure justice is done swiftly.”
NC has clarified that the assassinated NC workers had no involvement in the ongoing ULB polls. “All reports attributing to them as candidates in the ongoing ULB polls are false and are being circulated with a malicious intent,” party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said.
Meanwhile, senior PDP leader and former Finance Minister Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari also condemned the incident in which two National Conference workers were shot dead and another critically injured in Karfali area of Srinagar.
Bukhari, who is outside state has observed that the incident has vindicated his party’s stand that the situation was not conducive for holding Local Bodies elections in Kashmir.
In his condolence message, Bukhari has expressed deep shock and grief and has extended solidarity with the bereaved families of Mushtaq Ahmed Wani and Nazir Ahmed Bhat. He has also prayed for speedy recovery of the injured NC worker, Shakeel Ahmad.
Follow our WhatsApp channel