J

Srinagar, Jun 18 (UNI) The Jammu and Kashmir government today issued a clarification about Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's statement about the Kupwara firing incident on June 15.

According to an official spokesman Mr Azad had very specifically said that his government was against the firing on civilians whether by the police or the security forces.

Talking to mediapersons about the incident after the election to the Rajya Sabha seat from the state here on June 15, the Chief Minister had reportedly justified the alleged firing on protestors by the troops in Kupwara.

''No one has the right to take the law into his own hands by attacking the Army posts and trying to set them on fire,'' Mr Azad had said and charged the media with one-sided reporting.

''It happens across the world. When 10,000 people assemble outside the Army post to set it ablaze, how should they be responded?'' the Chief Minister had also reportedly said.

The spokesman said the state government had always taken cognisance of any complaint of human rights violations made against the police and the security forces.

The government has gone to the extent of ordering judicial inquiry into the incidents, he added.

However, the spokesman asked the people to bring their grievances and problems to the notice of district authorities without taking the law in their own hands to avoid any confrontation with the security forces.

UNI AG SHR HT1212