"If Militancy Ended Then...": Mehbooba Mufti On Kashmiri Pandit's Killing

Launching a fierce attack against the Centre over the recent targeted killing of a Kashmiri Pandit in South Kashmir's Pulwama, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said that if the militancy is eroded from the Valley, as claimed by the Centre, then who killed Sanjay Sharma.

The sharp reactions from Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief came while she visited Pulwama and met the family of Sanjay Sharma, a security guard, who was gunned down by terrorists when he was on his way to the local market.

Ms Mufti also demanded Rs 5 lakh compensation to be paid to the three children of Sanjay Sharma.

She said everyone is ashamed of the killing of Sanjay Sharma while at the same she aimed at the government for their crackdowns against Muslims in the name of eroding militancy.

"Everyone [especially Muslims] is ashamed of the incident. We are those Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, who during 1947, when Hindu-Muslim riots were happening all over the country, saved all the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs," she said, adding that today the Muslims themselves are in trouble here.

"On the one hand, the government are putting thousands of our people in jails in the name of militancy. Our houses are being attached. NIA-ED raids are being conducted. Thousands of our people are jailed in the name of Terror funding and Militancy. Today only four houses were attached and we are told that militancy is over. If militancy is over then who killed him [Sanjay Sharma]?" she roared on Monday.

She also said that the children of Sanjay Sharma should be given compensation of Rs five lakh each and a job to a family member in Jammu. "Sanjay's sister's sons should also be provided security," she added.

On Sunday terrorists fired upon a Kashmiri Pandit minority (Sanjay Sharma) while he was on his way to the local market in the Pulwama district. He was shifted to the hospital however, he succumbed to injuries.

It has to be noted that this is the first attack on a Hindu civilian in the last four months. Last year, there were a number of targeted killings in Kashmir. Several of the casualties were migrant workers or Pandits from Kashmir.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)