J-K Govt. not handling separatists with 'seriousness': Congress

The Congress Party on Friday said that the Government of Jammu and Kashmir is not handling the issue of separatists with 'seriousness', and added that the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led regime should have arrested all Hurriyat leaders ahead of their march in Sopore instead of placing them under house arrest.

"This is a matter of dealing with a very serious issue very lightly by the Jammu and Kashmir Government. The extremists have announced that they are going to take up a march, they should have been arrested. This is a clear case of anti-India tirade taken up by the separatists in Kashmir...The day Mufti Mohammed Syed took over as the Chief Minister with the help of the BJP, that day started the total freedom for the separatists," Congress leader P. C. Chacko told ANI.

"Separatist leaders are taking an anti-India stand with all the protection they are enjoying from the government of Jammu and Kashmir. Now they have put them in house arrest, they should have been

arrested. It is a clear case of treason; it is a war against India. They are acting at the behest of Pakistan and should not be allowed to carry out this anti-India campaign. The Congress feels that the

separatists are not being handled with seriousness," he added.

On Thursday, senior separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq were placed under house arrest ahead of a protest action called by them in Sopore town today.

The Hurriyat leaders had earlier announced their plans to lead a joint delegation to Sopore to express solidarity with the families of those killed in Sopore in the last month.

According to reports, six people have been killed in Sopore region by unknown gunmen in the last three weeks.