J&K Cong demands security for vulnerable panchayat members

Many panchayat members and other political leaders have received death threats, yet they are not being given security. We will be writing about this to the Centre after a meeting.

GHULAM AHMAD MIR, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress president

SRINAGAR : Days after sarpanch Ajay Pandita’s killing in Kashmir, J&K Congress has demanded security for all panchayat heads and members who are vulnerable to militant attacks in the Valley.

Pandita, a Congress sarpanch from Lukbhawan in south Kashmir, was killed by militants near his orchard on Monday afternoon.

He was the second Congress sarpanch to be killed by militants in south Kashmir in the last two years.

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress president Ghulam Ahmad Mir said that for the past several months, the party has been asking the government that panchayat members who are vulnerable to such attacks should be provided security cover, but nobody bothered.

“After Pandita’s killing, we have been demanding security for panches and sarpanches on a daily basis, but still nothing has been done,” he said adding that Pandita had also requested for security many times, but was never provided any.

Mir said, “Many panchayat members and other political leaders have received death threats, yet they are not being given security. We will be writing about this to the Centre after a meeting.”

Complaining about the situation, Mir said after August 5 last year, when many mainstream leaders were arrested under PSA act, the security of several leaders, especially those from Congress, was downgraded.

“I am a former minister, legislator and the current JKPCC president, but my security was also downgraded. In Jammu, I don’t have any security, and same is the case with other leaders of Congress and other mainstream political parties.”

BJP had also sought security of panchayat members soon after Pandita’s death. “We have been demanding security for panchayat members for a long time, but to no avail,” said BJP’s J&K spokesperson and sarpanch Altaf Thakur.

J&K director general of police Dilbag Singh had blamed the terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen for Pandita’s killing stating that those responsible for the attack had been identified.

However, the J&K administration has not disclosed if security cover will be provided to panchayat members in the Union territory.