Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Wednesday said that the revival of Village Defence Committees brings back the “haunting memories” of the early 1990s and simultaneously deflates the tall claims of the government of India about the region witnessing peace.
Flaying the reconstitution of VDCs, the NC State Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said that the government’s words don’t match its actions. “Not so long ago, the Government was saying everything is ok in J&K. The words and actions of the government don’t match. Recently the government declared that militancy has almost ebbed in the Chenab region. Why are the VDCs reactivated again? The measure puts a big question mark on the claims of the government,” he said.
Arming people without any set mechanism of accountability will lead to anarchy, he said, adding that it will escalate the problem instead of solving or containing it. “Involvement of VDC or for that matter any independent group or agency in law and order erodes the credibility of the administration and makes governance shoddy and murky. If the situation is bad, then what are the new forms of threats to the security situation, peace and tranquillity that are emerging post-2019? Government must come clean on all this,” he added.
These committees have faced accusations of gross abuses in J&K in the recent past, Imran said adding, “Reportedly J&K Police has filed around 200 cases against erstwhile VDC members. Their role is shadowed by their involvement in rampant human rights abuses and other anti-social activities.” He said that the move, far from ushering peace in the hilly regions of Jammu, will prove counterproductive.
