PDP condemns Budgam killings, urges Modi to take call on AFSPA

Srinagar, Nov 4: Condemning the killing of two youth in army firing, PDP on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a call on revocation of AFSPA in the state.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi must take a call on this law and use his decisive mandate as an opportunity to open a new chapter in Jammu and Kashmir by taking steps to revoke the AFSPA, thus restoring the constitutional rights of the people living here," Mehbooba said in a statement.

"Continuation of unaccountable authority under AFSPA is proving counterproductive day by day," the PDP president, who is the Lok Sabha member from Anantnag constituency, said.

Mehbooba said the "continued use of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has generated an all pervading sense of impunity among the security forces as they feel beyond reproach for their conduct and some of them misuse their authority and weapons".

Two youth were killed and two others injured, who were ravelling in a car, when they were fired upon by army personnel in Chattergam area of Budgam district yesterday.

Mehbooba strongly condemned the deaths and urged the PM to put a stop to the "unaccounted killings" in Kashmir.

"The killing of Faisal Ahmad Bhat and Mehraj-u-Din Dar adds only to the cold statistics of death in Jammu and Kashmir for which nobody is held accountable," she said.

Mehbooba said "even if the young boys had not responded to the call for stopping, the army men could have fired upon the tyres of the vehicle the boys were travelling in, rather than pumping dozens of bullets into these youngsters".

"We are tired of condemning such incidents and demanding probes which have so far led nowhere. It is time to restore full civil liberties in Jammu and Kashmir so that the residents of this state also enjoy the constitutional guarantees of dignity and right to life like other citizens of the country," she said.

PTI