Killing of boy ‘state-sponsored terror’: JKLF

They kill our young ones with impunity and then disallow even mourning and congregational prayers.

The killing of a 15-year-old boy in Batmaloo area of Srinagar last week — for which a murder case has been filed against the BSF — was a “demonstration of state-sponsored terrorism”, the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) said in a statement on Tuesday.

“They kill our young ones with impunity and then disallow even mourning and congregational prayers,”JKLF chairman Yasin Malik was quoted as saying in the statement on Sajad Hussain Sheikh’s killing.

Malik expressed solidarity with the bereaved family of Sheikh.

Residents of the locality in Srinagar where the killing took place said the the BSF personnel fired in retaliation when youngsters started throwing stones at the three military vehicles passing through the area.

Sources said the BSF personnel of the 38th battalion were involved in the incident.

A BSF spokesperson has been quoted in media reports as saying that its troops had resorted to “aerial firing” in self-defence during stone-pelting and a weapon snatching bid in Batmaloo on the fateful day.

Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has expressed anguish over the Sajad’s death and directed the security forces to “exercise maximum restraint while performing their duties in provocative situations and follow strictly the laid down SOPs in such cases”.

The JKLF statement said that Malik despite heavy restrictions travelled to Batamaloo and met the bereaved family and expressed solidarity with them.

Malik criticised “ban on raising voices, peaceful political gatherings, travelling, holding debates and arguments and even banning internet facilities” in Kashmir.