* Salutes SPO killed by mob, Nurses who trek several kms
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 12: In her first reaction during past five-days disturbances in the Kashmir valley, which have left 33 persons dead and hundreds of others injured, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today blamed ‘enemies of society’ for misleading the innocent youth and prompting them to target security force installations, where they either get killed or seriously injured.
Asserting that 27 years of violence has given Kashmir nothing but graveyards full with bodies, destruction of houses and killing of thousands of youth, be they protesters, security personnel, doctors, militants or other youths, Mehbooba, in an 11 minutes recorded video message released to the media tonight, called upon the parents to rein-in their innocent youths to help end the protests and restoration of normalcy in the Valley, which has been hit by five consecutive days of protests.
“The security forces or police, who have used excessive force would be held accountable but there are some anti social elements (whom she dubbed as ‘samaj dushman’), who were misleading the innocent youth and deviating them towards such site of protests, where they are either killed or injured,” she said.
The Chief Minister went on to say that such ‘mischievous elements’ were always in search of an opportunity for the youth to come out for protests and then divert them towards security forces installations like police stations or a security force camp, where they are killed or injured in the firing.
“When young protesters and security forces come into an eyeball-to-eyeball position, these ‘clever and expert’ anti-social elements manage to flee leaving innocent youths at the spot, where they hadn’t desired to come for protests when they came out of their houses,” she regretted.
Noting that parents have the major responsibility to rein-in their children after the God, Mehbooba Mufti called upon the elderly persons to ensure that the youths didn’t take to extreme protests from where they are unable to return to their houses.
Making her appeal emotional, Mehbooba said she too is mother of two children and know how much it pained when the children fall ill or get delayed to the houses.
The Chief Minister declared that her Government is determined to bring the State out of present morass and it will succeed, she said 27 years of violence has given nothing to the people except for the killing of youth including students, doctors, security personnel, militants and destroyed the State’s education system and houses.
“The people have got nothing except for graveyards full of bodies, destructed houses etc,” she said.
Calling upon the people to remain cautious of `mischievous elements’, Mehbooba said the neighbourers, relatives and other people would come to their houses to mourn the death of youth during protests for five-six days and later all of them would disappear leaving the families in lurch.
The Chief Minister said she salutes Special Police Officer (Afroz Ahmad), who was killed in mob violence when a police vehicle was thrown into the river Jhelum and two Nurses, who walked several kilometers to reach the hospitals to treat the injured. She also referred to the injuries inflicted on a child, who was hit on head with a stone yesterday.
The Chief Minister said she was proud of the Kashmiri people, who risked their lives to protect Amarnath yatris, tourists and Kashmiri Pandits and took care of them under tough circumstances.
Taking to task those playing politics over the dead bodies, Mehbooba said: “today I’m here (on the Chief Minister’s seat), tomorrow I may not be. But we have to save our people. We are planning to shift the injured to hospitals outside but will it return eyes and eyesight of the youth, who have been hit on eyes during the protests”.
She promised to work out a mechanism to ensure a secure and dignified living for the kith and kin of the victims of violence.
“While certain quarters are only interested in playing politics over the dead bodies of the youth, it is the family members of these slain youth who have to live with this pain forever,” she said.
“Ironically, it is only the parents and other immediate family members of these ill-fated youth who have to live with the life-long trauma of losing their near and dear ones to this senseless violence,” Mehbooba underscored in her appeal.
Commenting on the unrest, she said: “unfortunately some elements are hell bent upon fomenting trouble, mayhem and bloodshed in Kashmir for their vested interests and are playing with the lives of the innocent youth by instigating them to indulge in extreme violence resulting in a vicious cycle of frenzy and bloodshed.”
Without identifying anyone, the Chief Minister said: “there are hundreds of such families in Kashmir who have lost their near and dear ones to the violence, one way or the other, and have been left at the mercy of the God.
“Most of these families are living in such miserable conditions that they have to even struggle for day-to-day living.”
She said while hundreds and thousands of people may be attending the funerals of the slain youth, how many of these people then bother to visit these anguished families to help them out of difficult circumstances.
“The Government is, however, alive to the abject condition of such distressed families. We will try to work out a mechanism to ensure a secure and dignified living for the kith and kin of the victims of violence so that their families do not have to run from pillar to post to live a normal life, Mehbooba said adding “it is the responsibility of the Government to reach out to such families”.
Noting that a lot of blood had been shed in the last 27 years, Mehbooba sought the wholehearted cooperation of the people in restoration of peace and normalcy in the Valley to prevent further loss of precious lives and destruction of public and private properties.
“Nobody should be allowed to play with the future of your children,” she told the parents.
“The Government is taking various measures to restore calm and it needs support of the people in this endeavor.
“I appeal to all sections of the society including the political leaders, media, the religious heads, the business community and the prominent citizens to rise to the occasion and help the Government in restoring peace and normalcy in the Kashmir in the wake of the prevailing law and order situation,” the Chief Minister said.
Observing that education and economy are the first casualties of the prevailing situation, she said: “the future of our children is at stake and they won’t be able to compete with their counterparts from other parts of the State and the country because of the loss of precious time.”
Mehbooba said the deteriorating law and order situation has also lent a huge blow to the local economy which had just started picking up the threads with the encouraging tourist arrivals.
“If we see what happened over the past 27 years, nothing has been achieved (through violence),” she added.
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