Srinagar,July 27 (KNS): Expressing serious concern over the reported detention and arrest of a large number of youth across Kashmir following the recent terror attack in Anantnag, senior People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mohammad Ashraf Malik has criticised the National Conference-led government for what he described as “its failure to protect the people from heavy-handed state action.”
Malik, who is also the party’s in-charge for the Doru (Shahabad–Breng) constituency in South Kashmir, said the government has not only failed to exercise its moral responsibility to stand by the people, but has also remained largely silent while the crackdown continues.
“Claiming that the police and law and order machinery are not under its control cannot be an excuse. People are not expecting miracles. They expect their elected government to raise its voice and strongly take up the matter with the Union Government. Excuses, diversionary politics and rhetoric will not address the growing anxiety among the people,” he said.
Malik said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah should have personally intervened by taking up the issue with the Union Home Minister to ensure that innocent youth are not subjected to unnecessary harassment.
“Omar Sahib should have travelled to New Delhi and forcefully pleaded the case of Kashmir’s youth instead of allowing the political discourse to be reduced to attacks on the PDP.
Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelThis is a time for responsible leadership that inspires public confidence, not political point-scoring,” he said.
He stressed that the government must stand firmly with the people and ensure that the rights and dignity of innocent citizens are protected.
Appealing to the Union Government to adopt a humane and fair approach, Malik said those with no involvement in serious offences should not be made to suffer.
“No civilised society can justify violence, and no sensible person supports it. But incarcerating people on flimsy grounds is equally unacceptable. Such actions inflict immense trauma and humiliation not only on those detained but also on their families,” he said.
He urged both the Union Government and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to review every case on its own merits and immediately release those found to be innocent.
“Justice must be fair and impartial. Innocent young people should never be made to pay the price for crimes they did not commit,” Malik added. (KNS)