Mehbooba, Omar visit slain Ambreen’s family, question Admin’s claims of normalcy
Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference vice president, Omar Abdullah on Friday visited the family of TV artist Ambreen Bhat, who was killed by terrorists on Wednesday.
“Visited Ambreen Bhat’s family. Shocked to know that no one from LG admin has bothered to visit them. A sole breadwinner, she struggled to make ends meet. Hope the govt takes her circumstances into consideration and extends help (sic),” Mufti said in a tweet after her visit to Bhat’s family in Chadoora.
She said the TikTok starlet was a martyr as she had lost her life for fending for her family.
“We believe that anyone who dies while looking for a livelihood is a martyr,” Mufti said.
Asked about the police claim that the terrorists involved in the killing of Bhat were eliminated, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said, “It is weird that within 12 to 24 hours of a civilian killing, they claim that the perpetrators have been killed. I cannot say anything more on it.”
Mufti said while innocent people like Amreen Bhat, Kashmiri Pandit employee Rahul Bhat and civilian Shoaib Ganaie are getting killed day in and day out, the Centre is going hammer and tongs with its claims that normalcy has returned to Jammu and Kashmir.
“The situation has only worsened as the government is continuing with its muscular policy of oppression and suppression,” she said.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre is looking at Jammu and Kashmir as a security and religious issue.
“They think this is a Muslim-majority place, if people are dying, let them. This will not help improve the situation,” she said.
Meanwhile, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Friday said tourist arrivals in Jammu and Kashmir should not be linked with normalcy as there is an atmosphere of fear in which no one is certain about his future.
He said the government should be asked how the situation has come to a point where militancy has made a comeback in areas declared terror-free years ago.
“Tourist arrivals to Kashmir should not be seen as a sign of normalcy. Tourists have been coming here ever since 1995, some years less and some more,” Abdullah told reporters at Chadoora in Budgam district.
He had gone there to condole the killing of Television artist and TikTok starlet Amreen Bhat by militants at her residence on Wednesday.
He said the claims of normalcy by the government do not reflect the ground reality. “There is an atmosphere of fear. No one is sure who will be next in the target. We have a woman who is shot dead at her home and her nephew is injured. A similar incident took place with one of our off duty policeman. Where is the normalcy?” he asked.
“We had made Srinagar militancy-free, areas of Ganderbal district and moat areas of Budgam were incident-free. Today, I am neither in government nor making claims of normalcy. This question should be asked of the present government,” Abdullah said.
Asked about police claims that killers of Amreen Bhat have been eliminated, the former chief minister said he would not be able to comment on it as he was not privy to the intelligence based on which the operation was carried out.
“We all are disturbed by the trend of innocent civilian killings and the present government has to find a way to stop it,” Abdullah added.
