A political slugfest has broken out in the aftermath of a series of attacks on the security forces by suspected foreign terrorists across the Jammu region.
On a day when the security forces paid rich tributes to four bravehearts of the Indian army who laid down their lives in the line of duty while flushing out terrorists in the Dessa forest area of Doda, former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party Chief Mehbooba Mufti fired loose canons targeting Director General of Police RR Swain over the law-and-order situation in the union territory.
Mehbooba also demanded the sacking of the director general of police, accusing him of treating Kashmiris as "Pakistanis".
The PDP chief’s reaction came in the light of a statement made by RR Swain, chief of Jammu and Kashmir Police who blamed regional parties for Pakistan’s ‘successful’ infiltration into the Kashmiri civil society.
Swain on Monday had even alleged that “so-called mainstream political parties” cultivated leaders of terror networks and sometimes directly to further their electoral prospects.
Referring to the incidents of infiltration from across the border Mehbboba asked what is the DGP doing. There is no accountability. By now the heads should have rolled. The DGP should have been sacked. Almost 50 soldiers have lost their lives in the last 32 months. Mehbooba thundered, Is it my job or Omar Abdullah’s job to stop the infiltration? Who is at the borders? Who has to deal with the situation?
The current DGP is busy fixing things politically. His job is to break the PDP, harass people and journalists, and threaten people... Verification has been weaponized. They are finding ways to impose UAPA on maximum people... We don't need a fixer here, we need a DGP. We have had DGPs from other states before and they have worked very well. No one has worked on communal lines like things are being done now."
“All Kashmiris, especially the majority community have been alienated by him (DGP). He is treating them as Pakistanis… He is talking through the barrel of a gun, through weaponizing of passports, verifications and security agencies,” said Mehbooba Mufti.
Provincial President of the National Conference in the valley Nasir Sogami also reacted sharply to the statement of the DGP. Sogami said only those who plan to engage in politics should give political statements. The National Conference doesn’t need anyone's certificate. Nearly 3,000 of our colleagues have died standing for this flag.
J&K Peoples Conference (PC) President Sajad Lone also criticised the J&K Director General of Police (DGP) for his ‘Pakistan’ remarks, saying that statements by serving officers are an indication of the disdain and contempt of anything related to democracy.
“Such statements by serving officers are an indication of the disdain and contempt for anything remotely about democracy. Such a sad state of affairs and even sadder is the fact that the scriptwriters of this sad state of affairs take pride in having brought J&K to this level,” PC President wrote on X.
Meanwhile, the Congress party leaders in Jammu staged a protest highlighting the failure of the government to prevent attacks on the security forces.
Democratic Progressive Azad Party Chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad expressed deep sorrow over the death of four Indian Army soldiers, including a Captain, in Doda.
He emphasized that the rise in militancy in the Jammu region is alarming and called for serious government measures to combat it.
"Every human life is precious, and the enemies of peace must be dealt with firmly," Azad stated.
Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni party Syed Altaf Bukhari said the Doda Terror attack is condemnable. I think our security forces are either failing in intelligence gathering or something else. They should identify where they are going wrong to prevent further martyrdom of our forces.
