This refers to the editorial, “The dance of hatred” (June 26). The constant inflammatory speeches and statements of the separatists of Kashmir have kept their audience in a constantly aggressive mode. To give vent to their anger through shocking behaviour, any small insignificant reason is enough. The case in point being the death of the police officer Mohammad Ayub Pandith, posted at the mosque who was brutalised to death by the mob. A rumour that this officer was photographing the people led to an argument which then culminated in the enraged mob lynching the officer. Do the security agencies have to take permission from the people about what to do to fulfill their dutiesIJ The notion that they can do anything and no one can do anything to them is a thought which has been instilled firmly in the minds of the local people.
In the process, they have now, with the advantage of numbers, begun targetting security officers who are on duty. To stop this, immediate and harsh punishment has to be meted out to those who have done this inhuman act. Why are all those who objected to Major Nitin Gogoi's action quiet nowIJ Have the State and the Union Government thought of the state of mind of the security forces when they see their brother officers killed for doing their dutyIJ We cannot be sympathetic about anyone whose objective is to keep Kashmir in a volatile state.