Security forces 'soft targets' for Kashmir-centric political circles: Union Min

Union Minister Jitendra Singh today said the Army and other security forces are "soft targets" for some Kashmir-centric political circles who "lack courage and conviction" to condemn even acts of terror by known terrorists.

Singh, the Minister of State (MoS) in Prime Minister's Office (PMO), was reacting to a tweet from former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and opposition National Conference working president Omar Abdullah, condemning the killing of a protester who was mowed down by a CRPF vehicle in downtown Srinagar yesterday.

"I do not wish to get into what an individual has said. This has been a known practice in some of the Kashmir-centric political circles that they find security forces as soft targets and are very quick and prompt to condemn anything even if it is unfounded and unsubstantiated," Singh told reporters here, suggesting such politicians to give up "this type of attitude".

Omar had wrote on Twitter, "earlier they tied people to the fronts of jeeps & paraded them around villages to deter protestors now they just drive their jeeps right over protestors. Is this your new SOP @Mehbooba Mufti sahiba? Ceasefire means no guns so use jeeps?"