Separatist leaders appeal to youth not to attack ambulances

SRINAGAR: Two days after home minister Rajnath Singh informed Parliament that 100 ambulances were damaged in stone pelting in Kashmir, separatist leaders on Friday appealed to people not to attack ambulances and hospital staff. They even went to the extent of calling those youth who attack ambulances as “government agents”.

In a joint statement by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, the leaders took a strong note of the reports that ambulances and hospital staff were being “stopped and harassed”.

They appealed to people, especially tot he youth, to strictly “abide by the instructions issued by (the) leadership”.

Besides miscreants, there have also been allegations against police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) of attacking ambulances ferrying the injured. “Police and military barbarism is at its peak and there is a huge inflow of injured to the hospital, so we need to help these wounded to reach the hospital as quickly as possible. Anybody damaging ambulances is an agent of the government and the police nab such elements,” the leaders said.

While participating in a debate in Parliament on Wednesday, Singh had made a detailed statement about the situation. He had said that in spite of 100 ambulances damaged in stone pelting, 400 of them were still working.

There have been allegations, including some videos uploaded on social media, which show security forces attacking ambulances.