Srinagar: Terrorist Burhan Wani, whose death ignited a wave of violence across the Valley, would have been given a “chance” had security forces been aware of his identity, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Thursday.
This was the first comment from Mehbooba on the shootout of July 8, which clearly contradicts the statement put out earlier about the death of the 22-year-old terrorist. Thus far, security forces had claimed that specific intelligence inputs led to Wani and two other terrorists being killed in their hideout.
NC leader Junaid Mattoo wasted no time in pointing out the contradiction. He said: the police themselves said that they were tapping Wani’s phone for 3 days. The CM is a liar.’’
Mufti further said security forces told her that “three militants were hiding” in a house in Kokernag area “but they didn’t know who they were”.
“I believe that had they known Wani was there, he would have been given one chance, as the situation was fast improving in the state,” she told reporters.
Reacting to Mufti’s remarks, BJP leader Hina Bhat said, “A militant’s bio-data is not needed to carry out an operation.” The remarks are likely to impinge on PDP-BJP ties.
Mufti’s comments also seem to suggest that the chief minister believes that Wani is not a deadly terrorist. Rather, she believes like many others in the Valley that he was just a social media savvy rebel. The National Conference dubbed her remarks as “a cruel joke from a completely clueless” Chief Minister.
Mehbooba Mufti also said the situation turned volatile very fast in the Valley and the government did not have the luxury to prepare and prevent widespread violence in the aftermath of the Hizbul Mujahideen commander’s killing.
She said the then National Conference-led government of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had enough time to take adequate security measures when Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged in New Delhi on February 9, 2013.
“When Afzal Guru was hanged, Omar knew (about it). So he made all the arrangements in advance. We knew nothing and we came to know about Wani’s killing suddenly. But despite that, we tried to impose curfew.”
The National Conference ridiculed Mehbooba Mufti’s statement. “If Mufti is deluded into thinking that she can try to make a case that she wasn’t aware that a special team was dispatched from Srinagar to neutralize Burhan Wani, she is living in her usual fool’s paradise,” the party spokesperson said.
Earlier, senior PDP leader and MP Muzaffar Beigh had sparked controversy saying the security forces had violated the guidelines on Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) laid down by the Supreme Court for any counter-terror operation. Wani’s killing sparked the deadliest wave of unrest the Kashmir Valley has seen in years. Nearly 50 people have been killed and thousands injured in the violence that ensued. The Valley remained under continuous curfew for more than two weeks before it was partially lifted on Tuesday.
But normal life remained paralyzed even on Thursday for the 20th day in a row due to a separatists’ call for a shutdown. Violent protests erupted at many places in the Valley where there was no curfew on Thursday.
