‘Toffee’ remark bid to justify killings: Mirwaiz

Srinagar, August 26

A day after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said the kids killed in firing had not gone to fetch milk and toffee from the Army, the Hurriyat Conference today accused her of providing a justification to the civilian killings by security forces.

“By saying that ‘had kids gone to buy toffee and milk from the Army camps’, the government is actually attempting to justify the killings and state terrorism,” moderate Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told the media outside his Nigeen residence, before he was whisked away by the police as he attempted to march towards the Eidgah this afternoon. “These justifications demonstrate their mental bankruptcy and are highly regrettable,” Mirwaiz said without naming Mehbooba.

Mehbooba Mufti, in her joint press conference yesterday, hinted at tough action against trouble makers and said kids killed by the security forces had not gone to buy a toffee from an Army camp. She had said the children were being pushed into the fire and used as shields by those who foment trouble.

Mirwaiz hinted at the possibility of unrest till the people were not granted their right to decide their future. “People are being subjected to curfews not only during days but also at night so as to inflict more misery on them. Besides this, the government forces are raiding houses and indulging in ransacking and beating people,” he said. He warned that “by adopting such atrocious policies and injustices, the government cannot suppress” what he termed as “struggle based on truth and justice.”

The Hurriyat chief said the government was now adopting new methods to “suppress the peaceful struggle of Kashmiri people” and is now planning to book 200 youth under black laws like the Public safety Act. Mirwaiz said through the deployment of additional BSF troops and their lodging in schools and colleges in populated areas of city, “Srinagar in essence has been converted into a big jail.” — TNS