Mehbooba had said that how could people spill blood in the name of Islam and that too in the holy month of Ramadan.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has stoked a major controversy by dragging religion (Islam) in the Pampore terror attack that left eight CRPF men dead and 22 others injured.
“It (terror attacks) will not achieve anything. We are only defaming our Kashmir and state. At the same time we dealing a blow to our religion (Islam) under whose garb we do such things,” Mehbooba told reporters after laying floral wreath on the mortal remains of slain CRPF men.
Chief Minister wondered how somebody can indulge in such senseless acts of bloodletting in the name of Islam and that also in holy month of Ramadan, which is the month of peace and blessings for the people.
“How can somebody even think of bringing anguish to the lives of families whether of security forces personnel or civilians? Violence is unacceptable in any way and for any reason,” she said. Principal opposition party the National Conference (NC) was quick to condemn Mehbooba comments that held Muslims and Islam culpable for the Pampore attack.
“This is yet another instance where Mehbooba Mufti was feeding in to the bigoted ‘Islamic Terror’ narrative,” said Junaid Mattu, NC State Spokesperson. Condemning the dastardly attack on the CRPF convoy, the NC Spokesperson expressed solidarity with the families of the martyred policemen and said violence in any shape is condemnable and unacceptable.
“While our hearts go out to the families of the martyred CRPF personnel, we are shocked at the chief minister’s continued desperation to jump on the ‘Islamic Terror’ bandwagon. One wonders what her compulsions are but this is tragic,” he said.
Junaid said Mehbooba started this in Jammu in the presence of the Prime Minister where she publicly ridiculed, generalised and demeaned Muslims and Muslim societies for being unstable, undemocratic and sectarian in nature.
“Since then she has left no opportunity to hit out at Muslims and Islam and her recent comment equating the Pampore attack with Muslims and Islam is despicable and highly condemnable. She should think before she speaks”, he said.
The ghost of unmarked graves
The Jammu and Kashmir home department has revealed that in the last nearly four years, majority of the militants killed there remained unidentified, leading to fresh possibility of revival of the ‘unmarked graves’ controversy in which hundreds of unidentified graves were found across the state.
Since 2013, 200 militants have been killed but couldn’t be identified. Those killings which were identified included 103 local militants and 45 foreign militants. 53 security personnel were also killed in 2013.
In 2014, even as 47 security men were killed and 84 injured, besides 28 local and 17 foreign militants, the bodies of 65 other militants could not be identified.
In 2015, the security forces lost 39 men, and 103 of them were injured. 57 militants were killed in 2014 but couldn’t be identified.
In 2016, while 20 local militants and four foreign militants have been killed and identified, 39 of those killed remain to be identified. Security forces, on the other hand have lost 21 of their men and 52 of them got injured.
According to the state police, 145 militants are operating there, of which 91 are locals and 54 are foreigners. Meanwhile, of the 4587 youth who were on the other side of the LoC, 489 have returned through Nepal with their families between 2003 and May 2016, according to the state home department.
