Centre responsible for worsening situation in J-K: Mehbooba Mufti
SRINAGAR: The wrong measures taken by the BJP-led central government are responsible for the "worsening" situation in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said on Friday after visiting the family of a school principal who was killed by terrorists here.
With seven civilians killed by militants in five days in the Kashmir Valley, Mehbooba demanded that accountability be fixed for the repeated security lapses.
On Thursday, principal Supinder Kaur and teacher Deepak Chand were shot dead at point-blank range inside a government school in the city.
"The situation is worsening day by day and the BJP government is responsible for it. Its wrong steps and measures taken since August 5, 2019, (abrogation of Article 370) and before that as well, are directly responsible for the fast worsening situation in Kashmir," Mehbooba told reporters outside Kaur's Aloochibagh residence.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief visited Kaur's family to express her condolences and sympathies.
"She has two little kids. Where will they go? Our Sikh brethren have been with us and supported us all these years in our tough times. They have also been attacked, which is highly condemnable," she said.
Taking to Twitter, Mehbooba said heads should roll over the repeated security lapses.
"Everyone here is living in an atmosphere of suppression & fear. Heads must roll & those who are at the helm should be held accountable for these repeated security lapses," she tweeted.
The PDP chief claimed it has been established that security agencies had prior information about such attacks.
"Yet they failed to protect these innocent lives. Is it because they are too busy devoting all their energies to firing government employees & impounding passports of common Kashmiris?" Mehbooba asked.
"Even until yesterday, the security grid was completely immersed in organising normalcy picnic tours & horseback riding for visiting ministers. Perhaps these attacks could have been averted if their sole focus wasn't these ministerial visits & normalcy acrobatics," she said.
Mehbooba claimed her party tried to take out a unity march in view of the killings but was stopped by the police.
"Ironically, GOI spreads canards that Kashmiri Muslims don't stand up for minorities here. Truth is that this vicious hateful propaganda suits BJP's electoral narrative & prospects," she said.
Of the seven civilians killed by militants in Kashmir, four were from minority communities and six of the deaths took place in Srinagar.