MP Ruhullah Mehdi Questions Security Review After Killings in Kashmir

MP Ruhullah Mehdi on Friday pointed fingers at security review meeting and said that killings were reported in Kashmir a day after a high level security meeting.

Addressing media persons in Delhi, Ruhullah said that no one from the popular government was involved in the security meeting. “The J&K LG and the security forces were called here but immediately after that, the situation in Kashmir started to get worse,” he said.

Ruhullah said earlier there was a killing of an ex-serviceman and later a truck driver was killed in Army firing. “This society has fought against any innocent killing and any form of terrorism. We have sacrificed a lot, to counter those ideologies who believe in killing the innocent,” Ruhullah said.

He said that security forces arrested over 500 youth from different districts of south Kashmir post killing of former Armyman. “They were beaten up at night, their phones were confiscated, they were taken from their homes. Many boys were taken to unknown locations,” he said. He said in the name of investigation, a collective punishment was given to a very large population.

“The security forces label these boys as OGWs, a term which has no place in the law or in the constitution, and on the pretext of that, they get license to torture those individuals,” Ruhullah said.

Referring to the killing of Waseem Ahmed Mir, a truck driver from Sopore, Ruhullah said he was working hard in the evening to earn and feed his family.

“But suddenly, the news of his murder came out. Security forces say that the truck did not stop at a checkpoint. They say that the truck was followed from that check post for 23 km. After 23 km, to deflate the tires, to puncture the tires, to stop the truck, the Army says they fired,” Ruhullah said.

“But that fire, instead of hitting the tire, hit the driver who sits almost four feet above the tyres,” he said.

He asked the security forces to release the CCTV footage as the stretch where the incident took place, has a lot of bunkers placed and CCTV was installed everywhere,” he said