Jammu and Kashmir government to announce amnesty for stone-pelters

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government today said that it would soon announce an amnesty for persons involved in stone-pelting incidents and withdraw cases registered against them.

"The state government has decided to grant amnesty to the youths involved in such cases (stone pelting) and withdraw the FIRs registered against them,"Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar said in the Assembly here.

He said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would soon announce the scheme. The minister, however, did not give any more details about the scheme. Sagar was replying on a discussion on the issue of amnesty for the stone pelters raised by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Although the discussion was about amnesty for the youths facing cases for their involvement in stone-pelting protests, both ruling National Conference (NC) and PDP used it to score political points ahead of the assembly elections scheduled for later this year.

Initiating the discussion, PDP's Abdul Rehman Veeri said his party had no intention of targeting the government but the issue was that of the future of the state. "People have spoken loud and clear (in the Lok Sabha polls) about the performance of this government. If they (NC leaders) had listened to the voice of their conscience, they would have stepped down long back," he said.

He said while 2,376 persons were detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) by this government, cases have been registered against 6,000 youths for involvement in protests.

Sagar, in his reply, accused PDP of blackmailing the state government officials following the opposition party's victory in the Lok Sabha polls. "You are such blackmailers. You blackmailed the officials, telling them that you are coming (to power after assembly elections). Shall I name the officers you called?" the minister charged.

This led to an uproar in the House. However, the minister continued with his speech without divulging the names.

Sagar highlighted the civilian killings allegedly at the hands of security forces in Kashmir during the tenure of PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as the Union Home Minister. He also accused the PDP of instigating people to protests.

"Stone-pelters arrested in Anantnag district (in south Kashmir) are PDP workers. Your workers are involved in stone pelting... You instigate people. You should be ashamed of how low you have stooped," the minister alleged.