Mehbooba questions civilians' killing by security forces

Opposition PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said Tuesday that if even one of the persons killed in firing by the security forces during 2010 was proved to have been a militant, she would resign from the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.

She said this during a discussion in the house where Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said a judicial inquiry would be conducted into last month's incident in Shopian in which four people, including a militant, were killed in firing by paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force.

Speaker Mubarak Gul allowed a People's Democratic Party (PDP) motion for discussion, suspending the question hour.

Mehbooba Mufti said that during the current assembly session whenever the opposition tried to raise the issue of fixing accountability for killings by the security forces, the government brought up former army chief V.K. Singh's claims that payments have been made by the army to state ministers since Independence for "winning people's hearts".

"I feel V.K. Singh's statement and the report of the defence ministry is a black spot on the integrity of this house but whenever we demand discussion on the killings the government uses divisive tactics by raising the V.K. Singh issue," she said.

"Shopian is my hometown although I belong to Bijbehara town. The people of Shopian have been suffering since 2009 and sometimes I feel they are being punished for supporting us (PDP)," she said.

"Police issued a statement in which it was stated that three of the four people killed in Shopian firing by the CRPF were civilians who had no police record of being involved in militancy," the PDP leader said.

"After this, there were protests in Shopian and the authorities imposed curfew for 15 days despite the fact that the economy of Shopian is totally based on horticulture and their apple crop was rotting in the orchards for want of being picked," she said.

"The father of Tauseef, one of the three slain civilians, went from pillar to post to register an FIR in his son's killing, but police did not register his FIR," she said.

Ruling National Conference legislator Nasir Aslam Wani intervened during her speech and told the house that police had in fact registered the FIR.

Mufti said the FIR had been registered under PDP pressure.

"The state government believes that it is not necessary to address the problems of the people because after strikes, shutdowns and protests the people tire down and re-start their normal activities of life," she said.

"I don't know why the state government always provides defence to the CRPF when innocent people are killed by them?" she asked.

"I had asked the authorities to shift the Gagaran CRPF camp...but this also was not done," she said.

Mufti asked Abdullah, who was sitting in the assembly: "Have we to act as a colony or behave as the representatives of the people. I don't say there were no violations of human rights during our rule, but we had restored confidence among the people."

"The government has to put its foot down and enforce accountability," she said.

Joining the discussion from the treasury benches, Aga Syed Ruhullah said whenever there were situations during which the security forces were caught in violent clashes with mobs the security personnel on the ground acted to protect their lives.