After Farooq Abdullah, Azad questions target killings and the plot behind

By: Musaib Iqbal MK

Srinagar

Recently Farooq Abdullah created ripples in the political circles when he said that people of Kashmir were not behind the target killings of innocent non Kashmiri civilians and said that it was the conspiracy to defame people of Kashmir.

Former Chief Minister and Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday also put a question mark on the killings and also about the killers when he said that the government should try to arrest the alleged killers so that they can know their handlers and the conspiracy behind it.

Recently police said that they have eliminated the killers in multiple encounters as more than six encounters took place in various parts of Kashmir valley with the police saying that they have finished the ring.

Ghulam Nabi Azad has also advised the J&K administration to become people friendly and not harass common people on the streets. According to the KNT, while reporting Ghulam Nabi Azad, and his utterances on Wednesday has said as follows in its report.

Advising the present Government to adopt people friendly approach, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad Wednesday said that it has become very vital to nab anyone involved in target killings so that their modus operandi could be known and made public.

While condemning the target killings in Kashmir, Azad advised government not to harass bikers and detain them. “Petrol prices are touching sky and, in these circumstances, people prefer two wheelers instead of driving a car. So, the seizure of bikes and harassment to bikers should stop,” he said adding that such anti-people approach will further widen the gap between the government and common people.

Azad as per news agency Kashmir News Trust told reporters that two decades ago, Congress had not only curbed militancy but there was development as well. “Now there is no development. Unemployment graph has been showing upward trend. Price rise has broken the backbone of common men. Petrol prices have increased and same is the case with domestic gas. Construction work has come to a halt as there is tremendous rise in prices of sand, cement, bricks and other stuff,” he said.

Ghulam Nabi Azad who had been the former Union Minister for Health said that people of Kashmir have immensely suffered from past 30 years. “Let the government take positive steps to win the hearts and minds of the people. Instead of harassing people on the pretext of targeted killings, government should adopt people friendly approach and it should understand that people have faced a lot of hardships. Almost every family in Kashmir have lost at least a member due to militancy,” he said.

The former Rajya Sabha member in response to a question said that it is very important that an elected government should come into being so that grievances of the people are addressed. “It is not the job of bureaucrats to run the government. The job of bureaucrats is to follow the directions of the elected government. Statehood should be restored and elections conducted so that the existing gap between people and bureaucratic government should be bridged,” Azad said.

He said after meeting people from 11 districts, he felt the situation is very grim. “Everyone wants to know who these people are who are resorting to target killings. At least one among them should be arrested so that we come to know about their modus operandi,” he said

With KNT  inputs