Srinagar,June 24 – Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti has expressed anguish at the continued efforts of the government to dilly dally investigation into the Shopian triple murder cum rape case.
Addressing a large public meeting at Pulwama today held as part of the party campaign for revocation of AFSPA and reduction of troops, she said government tactic to soft pedal investigation into the atrocity had not changed even after the most damning interim report by the Jan Commission. This she said had forced the people of Shopian to hold demonstrations and strike for three weeks now but the government, in an indecent display of arrogance remains unmoved.
Paying tributes to the people of the area for their determination to seek justice for the victims, Mehbooba they had shown the way for restoration of the dignity for the whole state. In spite of provocations from the administration and unleashing of terror by police and security forces, she said the people of the district and adjoining areas had continued their struggle within the democratic and civilized norms. “But entire state is with them in this just struggle that has seen the businesses affected, educational institutions closed and disruption of daily life”, she added.
Mehbooba said it was evident from the follow up of the interim report of the Jan Commission that government was still in a cover up mode. Though the Commission had categorically recommended prosecution of the blue eyed police officials for “destruction, dissipation and suppression of evidence”, the government had side tracked the issue by suspending the officials. “How is the government going to recreate the evidence for punishing the guilty by such actions” she asked.
The PDP president said it seemed the administration had from day one tried to hush up the case to prove the chief minister’s presumptuous statement that “it was a case of drowning” true. The Commission has effectively nailed that lie by endorsing what every body in Shopian and elsewhere believed and demonstrated for and establishing that it was a case of rape and murder.
Reiterating her party’s resolve to carry forward the campaign for revocation of AFSPA and demilitarization of civilian areas as part of the Self Rule vision, Mehbooba said “we believe it is the destiny of our people to be the masters of their own affairs”. She stressed that the party would continue to work for the realization of this goal against all odds.
Mehbooba said for a dignified resolution of Kashmir problem it was essential also to work on various components of peace process started in 2003. The slow progress that hit the process after the reopening of links across LOC after 2005 needs to be addressed, she said. Even though traders were showing great interest in cross LOC trade much needed to be done to remove hassles caused by absence of banking facilities and currency exchange problems, she added.
Similarly, she said it was time to make the travel across the LOC easier. The bus service needs to be improved and documentation made easy so that every one beyond the divided families too could travel across. She said to begin with group tourism, pilgrimages, student and cultural exchanges could be started to make the opening of these routes meaningful.
Adressing the meeting senior party leader Molvi Iftikhar Hussein Ansari lashed out at the government for its insensitive approach to people’s problems. He said at a time when people faced huge problems as a result of state atrocities and calamities like hailstorm the rulers seemed to be blissfully ignorant. He said inability of the government to provide rations in deficit areas had created famine like situation but the coalition partners were engaged in an unseemly power struggle.
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