After terror attacks, protests erupt in Rajouri, Jammu

Our Correspondent

Jammu, January 2

People as well as several political organisations on Monday held protests against the government, blaming it for the failure to protect the minorities of Jammu and Kashmir. Two terror incidents have claimed six lives in Rajouri in the past two days.

SOP ignored

Past lessons taught us not to hand over attack sites without thoroughly sanitising them. Why wasn’t this SOP followed in Rajouri? Omar Abdullah, NC leader

Spreading hate

Muslims get killed every day but when our Hindu brethren get killed, a party exploits these incidents to spread Hindu-Muslim hatred. Mehbooba Mufti, PDP leader

Inaction against ultras

Genocide is continuing due to the BJP’s policy of appeasement coupled with inaction against terrorists and sympathisers. Ankur Sharma, Chief of IKKJUTT Jammu

Members of the IkkJutt Jammu party, led by its chief Ankur Sharma, held a demonstration at Press Club, Jammu, against the killings in Dhangri village of Rajouri. Sharma said, “Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha should apologise for falsely claiming that Jammu is free of terrorism and that there is normalcy in the UT. Genocide of minorities in J&K is continuing due to the BJP’s policy of appeasement coupled with government’s inaction against terrorists and their sympathisers.”

Rattan Lal Gupta, provincial president of the National Conference (NC), said the security situation had been worsening in J&K but the government was busy painting a rosy picture of the UT.

NC leader Farooq Abdullah said terrorists do not discriminate between their victims, whether they are Hindus or Muslims. He said the atmosphere of hatred was responsible for the killing of innocents.

As two children died on Monday in an IED blast that was planted at one the houses of one of the victims of Sunday’s terror attack, former NC leader Omar Abdullah tweeted, “This apparent carelessness on the part of the security forces needs to be probed and accountability fixed. Costly lessons learnt in the past taught us not to hand over the sites of encounters/attacks without thoroughly sanitising them. Why wasn’t this SOP followed in Rajouri?”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also held a protest in Rajouri and blamed the J&K administration as well as the Central Government for the security failure. Senior PDP leader Tazeem Dar said, “The government seems to be busy in highlighting its achievements that are not even visible on the ground. Killing of civilians is a question mark on the present regime.”

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who was in Anantnag, attacked the BJP for its “bogus claims” of ending militancy in the region. “Muslims get killed here every day but when our Hindu brethren get killed, a particular party exploits these incidents to spread Hindu-Muslim hatred across the country for its benefit,” she said.

Workers of the Shiv Sena Dogra Front burnt Pakistan’s flag in Jammu city, claiming terrorists were being trained in the country to kill innocent people in J&K. Its president Ashok Gupta said Pakistan had been behind civilian killings in Rajouri and must be dealt with an iron hand.

On Sunday, terrorists killed four people and injured many in three houses of Rajouri. On Monday, a blast took place in one of the victims’ houses, killing two siblings and injuring almost nine others. Soon after the attacks, protests erupted across the district.

Protests against Pakistan were carried out by the VHP, the Bajrang Dal, the Mission Statehood and others.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Apni Party and the Congress, who were separately on their way to meet the victims’ families in Dhangri village of Rajouri, claimed they were stopped by the district administration and the police. Leaders of both parties said they were stopped at Sunderbani.

People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone tweeted, “The perpetrators of this dastardly act will rot in hell.”

Altaf Bukhari-led Apni Party called it a “cowardly and dastardly attack.”

Leaders not allowed to meet kin

• Apni Party and Congress leaders claimed they were stopped by the administration and the police from meeting the victims’ families.
• Leaders said they wanted to express solidarity with the victims’ families but were not allowed to proceed further from Sunderbani.

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