J&K messed it up in Shopian: Centre
Chidambaram will visit the J&K to soothe frayed tempers.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: Even as Hurriyat(Geelani) called off on Tuesday its week-long strike to protest against the alleged rape-cum-murder of two local women in Shopian, restoring some normalcy to the Kashmir Valley, the Centre is reportedly not too happy with the state administration���s handling of the situation and feels that tension could have been defused much earlier had the local police filed an FIR on time.
���Things would not have come to this pass had the J&K police registered the FIR immediately after the bodies of Nilofar Jan and Asiya Jan were fished out from a stream on May 30,��� a senior minister of the central government commented on Tuesday.
The Centre, keen to be seen as responsive towards the public anger over the alleged rape-cur-murders, has decided to despatch its emissaries ��� after Saifuddin Soz, Union home minister P Chidambaram will visit the state on June 11 and 12 ��� to soothe frayed tempers. The visits come after Congress president Sonia Gandhi reportedly pulled up the party���s J&K unit for its ���lax��� response towards the Shopian incident.
Though the bodies of the two Shopian women, with visible injuries hinting at struggle, were fished out of a stream on May 30, the local police had refused to file a rape-cum-murder case until the forensic reports were in. They tried to pass off the deaths as a simple case of drowning. In fact, the drowning angle was also endorsed by Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, though based on a briefing he got from the local officials.
This angered the locals, leading to protests by Kashmiri outfits led by the hardline Hurriyat ��� whose chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani also hails from Shopian ��� which accused the authorities of ���shielding��� the security forces who may have abducted, raped and killed the two women.
It was only on Sunday night, after the forensic report confirmed rape on the two murdered women, that the J&K police finally registered an FIR under Section 376. A separate judicial inquiry has also been ordered.
The Centre���s assessment is that the nature of physical injuries found on the women���s bodies were enough circumstantial evidence that they were victims of rape and that there was no need to wait for the forensic report to register an FIR.
Mr Chidambaram, during his visit on June 11 and 12, will also review the overall security situation in the Valley, besides assessing the impact of public anger over the Shopian incident and the resulting resurgence of separatist activity, on the Amarnath Yatra beginning on June 15.
Meanwhile, a Hurriyat spokesman said in Srinagar that although they have not extended the strike any further, demonstrations will continue in the Valley through this week, notwithstanding the arrest of Geelani and his aides on Friday.
���Things would not have come to this pass had the J&K police registered the FIR immediately after the bodies of Nilofar Jan and Asiya Jan were fished out from a stream on May 30,��� a senior minister of the central government commented on Tuesday.
The Centre, keen to be seen as responsive towards the public anger over the alleged rape-cur-murders, has decided to despatch its emissaries ��� after Saifuddin Soz, Union home minister P Chidambaram will visit the state on June 11 and 12 ��� to soothe frayed tempers. The visits come after Congress president Sonia Gandhi reportedly pulled up the party���s J&K unit for its ���lax��� response towards the Shopian incident.
Though the bodies of the two Shopian women, with visible injuries hinting at struggle, were fished out of a stream on May 30, the local police had refused to file a rape-cum-murder case until the forensic reports were in. They tried to pass off the deaths as a simple case of drowning. In fact, the drowning angle was also endorsed by Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, though based on a briefing he got from the local officials.
This angered the locals, leading to protests by Kashmiri outfits led by the hardline Hurriyat ��� whose chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani also hails from Shopian ��� which accused the authorities of ���shielding��� the security forces who may have abducted, raped and killed the two women.
It was only on Sunday night, after the forensic report confirmed rape on the two murdered women, that the J&K police finally registered an FIR under Section 376. A separate judicial inquiry has also been ordered.
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The Centre���s assessment is that the nature of physical injuries found on the women���s bodies were enough circumstantial evidence that they were victims of rape and that there was no need to wait for the forensic report to register an FIR.
Mr Chidambaram, during his visit on June 11 and 12, will also review the overall security situation in the Valley, besides assessing the impact of public anger over the Shopian incident and the resulting resurgence of separatist activity, on the Amarnath Yatra beginning on June 15.
Meanwhile, a Hurriyat spokesman said in Srinagar that although they have not extended the strike any further, demonstrations will continue in the Valley through this week, notwithstanding the arrest of Geelani and his aides on Friday.
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