Welcoming the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s assertion that the army personnel responsible for the murder of two innocent civilians at Bomai, Sopore would be punished and similar action would be taken against the CRPF personnel responsible for putting to death an innocent civilian at Khaigam, Pakherpora, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today said there is no alternative to scrapping of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and sending the troops deployed on internal security duties back to the barracks to avoid such tragedies.
“Series of civilian killings by the security forces after the assembly elections are in no way one-off incidents and these can’t be dealt with isolated response now,” a PDP spokesman said in a statement issued here today. “We hope stern action would be taken against the security forces personnel responsible for Bomai, Nowhatta and Khaigam killings and it would not meet the fate of Pathribal and Ganderbal fake encounters or even Jalil Indrabi murder case no accused army personnel has been punished yet,” he said.
The spokesman said Jammu & Kashmir is now ready for restoration of complete civilian system of governance and for this revocation of AFSPA and sending the troops deployed on internal security duties back to the barracks is a pre-requisite. “There can be no middle ground to deal with the situation,” he said.
The spokesman said respecting the democratic urges of the State’s people and realizing the fast-changing ground realities, the Government of India should take immediate steps towards revocation of the AFSPA and withdrawing the troops deployed on internal security duties. “That alone could ensure dignified life for the citizens of State who have pinned great hopes in democratic process and voted in elections as never before,” he said.
“The emphatic rejection of violence by the people of the State as a means of solving problems and reiteration of their faith in democratic means became very clear during the just concluded elections,” he said and added that the State and the Central Government must respond to the public sentiment by empowering the civil society institutions and reposing greater trust in the people of Jammu & Kashmir instead of making the democratic institutions subservient to the gun of the soldier in the State.
The spokesman said that the Government must now genuinely engage with the people's aspirations to work for the lasting peace in the State. “If political solutions are not accompanied with sincerity of purpose, the possibility of lasting peace would start receding again,” he said.