Futile to pin hopes on investigation in Shopian case: Mehbooba

Intensifying their campaign for the scraping of draconian laws and demilitarization of civilian areas, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party today held a rally and marched up to the Raj Bhawan gates, here on Monday.

Let by party president Mehbooba Mufti the ralliest, however, could not reach the governor NN Vohra as the police obstructed their march at the gate. Senior PDP leaders including Molvi Iftikthar Hussain Ansari, Dillawar Mir, general secretary, Abdul Rashid Kabuli were joined by large number of party workers who marched on foot from the party headquarters to the Raj Bhawan.

The governor NN Vohra refused to meet the PDP president and her colleagues citing his pre-occupation as the reason.

Talking to the media persons, present on the spot, the PDP president said that it was regrettable that the governor, who had been an interlocutor of the central government to resolve Kashmir problem, had refused to meet the opposition leaders. She said the purpose to meet the governor was to apprise him, as the representative of the central government, of the excesses and atrocities faced by the people of the state as a result of the intruding presence of security forces in the civilian areas and their powers under laws like AFSPA.

Referring to the interim report of the judicial commission, which has clearly indicted the state administration of having deliberately destroyed the evidences in Shopian rape and murder case, the PDP president said that it was now futile to accept from the present government to reflect the aspirations of the people on these vital issues. She said that it was now useless to pin any hopes for justice from the investigation.

“It appears that the administration had carried out the massive cover up operation only to prove the chief minister’s pre-judged statement that it was a case of drowning, correct”, she said adding that under these circumstances the party feels that the investigation in the case is only an eyewash and nothing is going to come out of it.

Earlier, addressing the rally, near the party office she said that any government in the state can not enjoy impunity as the PDP had introduced the element of public scrutiny and accountability in to governance. She said that even a drop of blood shed in Kashmir will have to be accounted for and PDP will ensure that the campaign for revocation of draconian laws is taken to its logical conclusion.

 She said that PDP did not believe in hollow promises as it has shown during the three year rule of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed who built bridges between Indian and Pakistan as he has promised. Similarly, he led the state government in to persuading two successive prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajapayee and Manmohan Singh to open the traditional routes across the Line of Control and unite the divided states, she added.

 Unfortunately, she said, the process was stopped after the change over in 2006. Mehbooba said that the demand of revocation of AFSPA and demilitarization of civilian areas was raised way back in 2006 at a time when Kashmir was rocked by fake encounters at the hands of policemen and security forces for seeking medals and promotions. She said that it was heartening that many more voices were joining now to the PDP demand and it was time that New Delhi took note of the heart beats of the people of the state and withdraws excessive security forces from civilian areas and makes them accountable under normal law of the land. 

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