J&K top cop replaced as spiral of violence continues in Valley
Jammu and Kashmir government has changed Kashmir’s inspector general of police (IGP) amid increasing militant violence and student protests across the region.
Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Muneer Ahmed Khan has replaced Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gilani. Gilani, who served as the IGP from March 15, 2015, has been appointed as the director vigilance.
The change comes as the police are finding it difficult to control the mounting student protests across the Valley, which were triggered after an alleged incident of police high-handedness in Pulwama Degree College on April 15.
The administration has since been closing individual colleges and schools in central, south and north Kashmir as students are repeatedly taking to the streets and clashing with police.
The protests came in the aftermath of violence sparked by the killing of eight civilians by security forces during protests on April 9 when Srinagar Lok Sabha seat went to polls.
Gilani’s tenure also witnessed the massive street protests after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani in the summer of 2016. The iron-fisted response of the security forces led to death of 90 persons during the unrest.
The killings triggered anger prompting more locals to join the militancy. In his last press conference as IG on May 08, Gilani had revealed that as many as 95 Kashmiri youth joined militancy during the last one year out of the total 200 militants active in the region.
He had also claimed that the students’ protests that rocked Kashmir since April 15 were “under control” and normal work had resumed in most school and colleges. However, just a day after, hundreds of students took to streets in the business hub of Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar and clashed with police. The people of J&K have to choose between peace and violence, CM Mehbooba Mufti said on Sunday as she asked students to focus on their education and let the elders address bigger issues.
“I think our children are intelligent... but unfortunately I think someone has cast an evil eye on their intelligence. I feel the children should study and the bigger issues should be addressed by the elders,” she said on the sidelines of a function in her home constituency of Anantnag.
As India trades fire with Pakistan over ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) , MP and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare a unilateral truce, but the suggestion was immediately shot down by the state government.
“The situation is very volatile on the borders as continued shelling is going on unabated. The situation was similar during the tenure of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He (Vajpayee) took the initiative, went to Lahore and later called for unilateral ceasefire in wake of the holy month of Ramadan,” Abdullah said on the sidelines of a private function in Jammu.
“I appeal to PM Modi, as Ramadan is round the corner, to go for unilateral ceasefire and it will also show that India does not want war. India wants to resolve the issue by holding bilateral talks.,” he said.
But Abdullah’s suggestion for talks with Pakistan drew immediate fire from the state government.
“When in power, Farooq Abdullah preaches bombing Pakistan, when out of power, he talks about dialogue with Pakistan,” Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Nirmal Kumar Singh said.
FAROOQ URGED MODI TO OPT FOR UNILATERAL CEASEFIRE, WHICH ACCORDING TO HIM WILL SHOW THAT INDIA DOESN’T WANT WAR