On recommendations of DGP-headed panel, CM orders withdrawal
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today ordered the withdrawal of stone-throwing cases against 4,327 youth.
The decision came after the recommendation of a high-powered committee headed by the Director General of Police which submitted its report to her today.
Director General of Police SP Vaid has been asked to regularly monitor the progress in the matter and furnish a fortnightly report, reads a communication from the Home Department to the DGP sent late this evening.
Today’s decision marks the revival of the process of withdrawal of cases started by Mehbooba last year immediately after taking over as Chief Minister.
Mehbooba had initiated the process of reviewing cases against youth from 2008 to 2014 and in the first instance 104 cases, involving 634 youth, were withdrawn within two months of her assuming power. The process got disrupted due to the continued violence and unrest during the later part of the year.
As Mehbooba today ordered the withdrawal of cases of stone-pelting against 4,327 youth in 744 cases, the total number of cases withdrawn so far on the directions of the Chief Minister has gone to 848 and the persons benefitting from the withdrawals stand at 4,957.
Mehbooba Mufti had recently also ordered the review of cases from 2015 to 2017 (to date). The decision on them would be taken on getting the report of the high-powered committee.
The withdrawal of cases against these youth was a major demand from various sections of society in the state. The Chief Minister described today’s decision as a ray of hope for young boys and their families and termed it as an opportunity for them to rebuild their lives.
She hoped the decision would help create a positive and conciliatory atmosphere in the state where the youth would be able to build their lives in a more constructive and positive way.
Root cause of militancy needs to be fixed: CM
Kathua: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said the root cause of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir needed to be identified and fixed. For this, the Chief Minister asked policemen “to do parenting of youth who are barely of 12-14 years of age and need to be counselled, educated and guided”. She, however, did not elaborate as to how the root cause of militancy would be identified and fixed.
Mehbooba said this while addressing the attestation-cum-passing out parade of the 25th batch of the Police Training School, Kathua. “The root cause of militancy needs to be identified and fixed. I have ordered the review of cases against the youth during the unrest of last year. You need to do the parenting of these youth who are barely of 12-14 years of age. They need to be counselled, educated and guided for which you people have to act as their guiding philosophers,” she told the police force.
An official spokesperson on wednesday said the Chief Minister had approved withdrawal of cases against 4,327 youth involved in 744 cases of law and order. “Unfortunately, the hands which should have held books and laptops, were throwing stones. They were mostly minors and in order to stop them from indulging in violence and stone-throwing, there is no other way but to grant them amnesty. They must be handled in a caring way,” she said. The Chief Minister said though there were many challenges for policemen, a job done with good behaviour fetches better results.
