Mehbooba condemns Tral grenade attack

Srinagar, September 21

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has strongly condemned the grenade attack at Tral today in which two civilians were killed and many others were injured, including an Superintending Engineer and Executive Engineer of the Roads and Bridges Department.

The Chief Minister said it was unfortunate that the attack took place when Minister for Public Works Naeem Akhter had gone to the town to assess the developmental needs of the area which has remained neglected for decades. She said the vicious cycle of violence which unfortunately has engulfed the state for three decades now needs to be broken to stop the bloodshed and provide a breather to the people who have been choked by it. “How long are we going to suffer like this on human, developmental, economic, educational and social fronts,” she said. Other leaders and parties too flayed the attack. BJP spokesman Khalid Jehangir said, “the people who hurled the grenade towards the cavalcade of Akhter are the biggest enemies of Kashmir as their hands are soaked with the blood of innocent people.” National Conference general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said, “Our religion doesn’t teach us to kill innocent civilians and its beyond comprehension as to how any god-fearing individual can allow this to happen. The state government needs to put its act together and waste no time in identifying the perpetrators of this dastardly act.” In a joint statement, Syed Ali Geelani, Yasin Malik, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, “Rampant construction of camps and bunkers by Indian occupation forces in the densely populated areas of nook and corner of the war-torn state has made lives of innocent people miserable and vulnerable.” — TNS