Separatists unite on 6th killing, call for shutdown, mass march to Sopore

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, June 15: With the Jammu and Kashmir Police and security forces being continuously mute spectators to the resurgence of terrorism in Sopore after several years of peace, unidentified gunmen on Monday shot dead yet another civilian---sixth in a row in less than a month.

According to the official sources, an unidentified gunman shot dead 38-year-old Aijaz Ahmad Rishi close to his residence at Mundji in Sopore at 8.00 a.m. Once a militant of Harkatul Mujahideen, Rishi had not joined any militant organisation after his release from jail. He was the sixth civilian killed in target fire in less than one month in Sopore.

Significantly for the first time after Hurriyat Conference's split in 2003, representatives of both the factions of the separatist conglomerate, alongwith some leaders of JKLF, held a meeting at Jamia Masjid in downtown Srinagar to discuss the unidentified assassins' killing spree in Sopore. They jointly called for a total protest shutdown in the Valley on June 17th besides a mass march from Srinagar to Sopore on June 19th, Friday. The participants attributed all the six killings to the Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's revelation.

In May, Parrikar had said that India would use terrorists to neutralize the terrorists, raising an alarm in the Valley’s separatist camp.

Senior separatist leader and head of Democratic Freedom Party Shabir Ahmad Shah issued a separate statement, calling for shutdown on Wednesday and march to Sopore on Friday.

In their separate statements, heads of the formidable guerrilla outfits Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba held the Central secret agencies responsible for the current spell of terror in Sopore. They vowed to strike back on the "India-sponsored gunmen, claiming that the assassins would meet the fate of once the dreaded militants-turned-counterinsurgents Kukka Parray and Javed Shah.

Meanwhile, JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik on Monday visited Sopore and held a protest sit-in. He interacted with the residents. Malik alleged that the Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was responsible for the fresh spell of terror that began in Sopore with a diktat to the mobile phone operators last month. Six persons, including two associated with the mobile telephony, were shot dead in different incidents of shootout in less than a month.

Mufti Sayeed-led PDP-BJP government has watched the six killings helplessly, making it a point to ignore even a routine statement on the same in its daily handouts. No changes have been affected in Police despite near-total system failure in Sopore.

An official spokesperson said in a press release on Monday that Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had taken a serious view of the killings of the civilians in Sopore and issued directions to the Home Department for stepping up investigations and providing secure environment to all civilians.

"The matter is also scheduled to be discussed in the meeting of the Unified Headquarters, which has been convened on June 17th", said the handout from the government. He said that the Police had taken all possible steps to fast-track investigation into all the relevant aspects of the incidents", the spokesperson said. It added that a special monitoring mechanism had been employed "to keep track of proper investigation". He asserted that the State Government was making all out efforts to ensure the safety and security of the innocent civilians.

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