Beig condemns innocent killings, insensitive handling. Says, It is a police State:

Srinagar, June 30: Senior People’s Democratic Party leader Muzaffar Hussain Beig has said the Omar Abdullah led government has converted Kashmir into a police state and in less than six months destroyed all the gains of the political process started in 2002.

Condemning the indiscriminate use of force by police and security forces, latest in Baramulla and return to custodial disappearances, latest in Dooru, Beig said Omar Abdullah is either helpless in controlling his unbridled forces or unequal to the task of running a state like Jammu & Kashmir. The Chief Minister, he said looked like a prisoner in the hands of uniformed forces without being able to take any initiative to save the life, property and honour of the citizens.

The former deputy chief minister said the inept handling of the situation by the government and the license to kill granted to the forces has resulted in a virtual anarchy. The levels of insecurity among the people have risen to previous levels of National Conference era between 1996-2002 and government was becoming more and more dependent on force rather than the goodwill of people it claims to represent, he said.

Referring to the spate of recent killings in brutal police action, Beig said most of the victims had received bullets in their head and now it was unable to control the situation. He said this reflected a sinister game plan of the government to sabotage the movement for the revocation of AFSPA and withdrawal of troops. It is ironic while the people were calling for full empowerment of police and civil society institutions; the government should have converted the police itself into a tool of repression so as to leave the Kashmir society with a choice between the devil and deep sea, he added.

Beig said it was not clear whether Omar Abdullah’s refusal to talk about Shopian and Baramulla atrocities at his press interaction in Jammu reflected his guilty conscience or ineptitude, either way his conduct raised some uncomfortable questions for him. He said the Chief Minister who is in charge of the law and order and is heading the Unified Command cannot in any democratic system shy away from issues that have set the entire state on fire and try to hide behind the silence. The Chief Minister will have to face the truth and answer questions however inconvenient he feels they are, Beig asserted.

Beig said government of India must take note of the fast deteriorating situation in the state and do so before it is too late. He said special powers to security forces should be withdrawn and civil society provided full space to act and flourish without interference in their daily lives. These much needed actions are already delayed but it might prove too little and too late if delayed any further he said and added that there might not be any takers even for these measures if the situation is allowed to worsen at the present pace.

Expressing his sympathies for the bereaved families, Beig said his heart went out to the parents and relatives of the young innocent and unarmed protestors who fell victim to the bullets of an insensitive government headed by an equally insensitive Chief Minister. ‘My heart goes out to these unfortunate families and I fully share their grief’, he added.

Mean while MLA Sangrama Syed Basharat Bukhari also condemned the killing of innocent people in Baramulla and have expressed sympathies with the bereaved families. He also expressed his concern about the brutal force used by the police against the peaceful demonstrators and have demanded action against erred officials. (NAK)