'Clueless' Mufti's ignorance over Burhan Wani led to Kashmir unrest: Congress

States that unawareness on Wani's presence was the biggest failure of intelligence agencies and state government

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Reacting to Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's statement that security forces were unaware about Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's identity during the encounter, the Congress has asserted that it was the biggest failure of intelligence agencies and the state government that they were unaware about Wani's presence.

"It was the biggest failure of Intelligence Agencies. The Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir was unaware about Burhan Wani's presence and gave orders to attack on our people. The Security forces would not have taken action without her orders. So she was clueless and so were her partners at the Centre and what was the result of that? Our people were beaten up and many were blinded," Congress leader Renuka Choudhary told ANI.

Asserting that it was incredible that the Mufti had admitted to being unaware about Wani's location, she slammed the Chief Minister for making such a statement days after turmoil seemed to recede a bit in the Valley.

Questioning the Bharatiya Janata Party' s (BJP) intention behind maintaining such friendly relations with Pakistan even after the Kashmir unrest, Choudhary said "Every day the citizens are being harassed, the country is being disrespected and the BJP Government is not concerned about it. It is good to have talks and maintain good relations with Pakistan but what is the outcome of this?"

Meanwhile, National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah today has rubbished successor Mufti's claim that she was not aware of the encounter between the security forces and Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, which resulted in the latter's death.

Abdullah said that Mufti was kept fully informed of the July 8 encounter.

Mufti yesterday claimed that the security forces were unaware about Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's hideout, adding that he would have been given a chance had they known about his presence.

Mehbooba said, "How are we supposed to know everything about every encounter? As far as I know, what I heard from the police and the army, who said they only knew that there were three militants inside the house but did not know who they were."

"I believe that had they known he was there, Wani would have been given one chance as the situation was fast improving in the state. He would have been given a chance," she added.

At least 47 people died and around 5,500 people, including 3,000 security personnel, have also been injured in the violence that rocked the Valley since July 8, when Wani was killed in an encounter.