Srinagar, Mar 06: Opposition National Conference on Tuesday sought a clarification from the government on why legal action has not been taken in the Shopian firing incident, even after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti accepted that those killed were civilians.
The Shopian incident on Sunday night, that left six people, including two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants, dead has triggered a controversy, with the Army claiming that the four others killed were also linked to militancy and the state government maintaining that they were civilians.
Commenting on Mehbooba Mufti’s tweet yesterday accepting the youths killed in the incident as civilians, NC spokesperson said the Chief Minister has not been elected to be a “mute spectator” to civilian killings and express condolences.
“What the people would like to know is why the state government has taken no legal action against the culprits, when it has accepted that the young men were not militants or OGWs (over-ground workers), but innocent civilians,” NC said.
“She (Mehbooba) is duty-bound to hold the culprits accountable and, if she chooses not to do so, this would be a serious dereliction of her constitutional duties yet again,” the opposition spokesperson said in a statement.
He wondered why an FIR has not been filed and the “errant” troops arrested in view of Mehbooba’s admission, terming it “shameless surrender and silence”.
Speaking about the State government’s statement in the Supreme Court yesterday that Major Aditya does not figure in an FIR in another Shopian firing incident, NC said, “Copies of the FIR available locally and visible on social media clearly show Major Aditya’s name mentioned in the FIR.”
The NC spokesperson asked if the State government has misled the Supreme Court or fudged the FIR in that case to “save its skin and remain in power”.
“Mehbooba Mufti, on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, assured the people that she would take that case to a logical conclusion. What logical conclusion is this? Why is the state government’s stand being represented in such a shoddy, half-baked and half-hearted manner in the Supreme Court?” NC asked.
