New Delhi/Jammu,September 17 (Scoop News) – Expressing deep concern and anguish at the grim situation in Kashmir and other parts of the state, Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti today sought Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s intervention in averting the humanitarian disaster unfolding there.
In a statement issued here, she said the government on the one hand had reduced its functioning to inflicting death, injury and destruction on people through use of brute force while on the other essential supplies had been completely switched off to punish the survivors.
Mehbooba said amidst rising number of dead bodies of civilians and injured, crackdown and arrest of youth entire population has been imprisoned and a virtual blockade put in place to stop supplies. She said hospitals have been shut even for emergencies, medicines are not available, oxygen supplies have run out and even patients are not let out of homes to seek medical assistance. She said households had run out of food stocks and provisions as even the local groceries were not allowed to open which in turn are receiving no supplies from the wholesalers. Baby food, vegetables and other rations are running at acutely low levels.
As part of the collective punishment, Mehbooba said curfew passes have been rendered useless and now even the formality of issuing them has been withdrawn. As a result milk and gas plants have been shut down since Eid and gas and milk supplies have been totally stopped. She said such supplies were maintained even when the valley was witnessing high militancy and violence. But no the state government seems to be wilfully pushing common people into starvation, perhaps in the hope of extracting surrender from them least realizing that such measures can lead to desperation of a dangerous kind, she cautioned. She said it is time that the Prime Minister intervened at least to restore humanitarian aspects of governance in the state.
Condemning the brutal killing of protesters in Mendhar, Jammu and lest killing in Sopore by government forces Mehbooba said it is now clear that the state had no methods in its book of options other than bullets to meet any situation. She said, whatever the sentiment, and whatever the place or occasion government response has been uniform and it has not been able to learn from its blunders that have landed the state into its worst crisis.
Referring to the reports of some people missing in Tangmarg area in the aftermath of the killings and devastation of last Monday, Mehbooba said these had created panic in the entire valley. She said government must immediately come clean on the subject and provide details of all the persons arrested, killed and injured. She said considering that the ruling party workers had been named by police in organising these incidents, government must come out with full facts to satisfy a highly disturbed population of the area.