‘Eid prayers held in every Mosque’
JAMMU, Aug 12: Governor Satya Pal Malik today hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks that there have been reports of violence in Kashmir, saying he will send him an aircraft to visit the Valley and observe the ground situation.
The Governor said Gandhi should feel ashamed about the behaviour of one of his leaders who was talking like an “idiot” in Parliament.
“I have invited Rahul Gandhi to come here. I will send you a plane, to observe (the situation) and then speak up. You are a responsible person and you should not speak like this,” Malik said.
Malik was replying to a question about statements and reports by some leaders and the media about the violence in Kashmir.
Malik said that the issue was being fanned by some people but they were not successful in it.
“Foreign press has made an attempt (of wrong reportage) and we have warned them. All hospitals are open for you and if even a single person has been hit by a bullet, prove it. But only four people were hit by pellets in legs when there was violence by youths and there were no serious injuries to anyone,” he said.
Replying to a question about allegations that Kashmir has been turned into a concentration camp, the Governor said that despite being educated, people don’t know the meaning of a concentration camp.
“I know what it is. I have gone to jail 30 times. Even then, I will not term it as a concentration camp. They (Congress) imprisoned people for one-and-half-years during Emergency, but nobody termed them concentration camps. Is preventative arrest (equal to) a concentration camp,” he asked.
Malik said that Eid prayers were offered in all mosques in Kashmir valley peacefully.
“Today, namaz was offered by the people in every mosque. Namaz took place in every locality,” Malik said.
He said that security restrictions were relaxed on Saturday and Sunday and people did shopping in normal conditions and all arrangements were put in place.
“But in troubled places, we will try to ensure peace because we don’t want even a single life to be lost or people get injured. It is the responsibility of the Government to protect our citizens,” he said.
“We don’t want troublemakers or any other element creating trouble in which any loss of life takes place and then media and others blame us as to why you could not stop this. Except some limited places, in the rest people are moving freely,” he said.
Replying to a question as to when normalcy will return and communication network restored in Kashmir, Malik said that the Government did not clamp curfew, but imposed restrictions only.
“For the past two days, everything was totally open. Markets were open, people were shopping. Today is Eid, it is normal. If some people want to create trouble it is our responsibility to stop them. It will soon be at ease,” he said. (PTI)
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