Kids being used as human shields: Mehbooba

As one more youth was killed in her home district of Anantnag, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti accused the separatists of using children as human shields to achieve their goals.

“Their (separatists) own kids are settled in safer havens of Malaysia, Dubai, Bengaluru and other places. The poor kids are provoked to carry out protest marches in such a way that there is retaliation from security forces,” she said while speaking at an official function here.

Mehbooba accused the separatists of provoking kids for hatred. “Scared of police, they (separatists) move here and there at night to provoke children.” Referring to the ongoing agitation, the chief minister said, “This tehreek (movement) has surpassed the limits of tameez (decency)… An expecting woman who is in need of medical consultation is asked (by protesters) if she really is pregnant.”

“No one wants the children to get hit by pellet guns. Our children are getting killed or maimed, our social fabric is slipping into disorder, economy is in shambles, educational sector has suffered immensely, tourism inflow is zero, shopkeepers are not able to do business, industrial units are shut, development process has come to a halt and people are feeling suffocated. We shall have to ponder over how long we are going to allow this self destruction to continue,” Mehbooba said.

Hopes for normalcy
In her heartrending speech that lasted for 25 minutes, Mehbooba evoked the Urdu couplet to express her hope for restoration of normalcy in the Valley, which has been witnessing “humanitarian crises, since July 8 when Hizbul commander Burhan Wani and his two associates were killed.

“Raat jitni he sangeen hogi, subah utni he rangeen hogi (the dark night is always followed by bright morning,” she said, amid claps in her address to the jam-packed SKICC auditorium, here.

Shutting the doors for dialogue is not going to help, the chief minister said, adding that the separatist leadership is not facilitating the solution by spurning the parleys, but only delaying the resolution process.