Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Home Minister P Chidambaram Thursday strongly condemned the brutal killing of a 20-year-old girl by unidentified militants in Shopian and took on the separatists for their silence on the issue.
Speaking to a news channel, Chidambaram said, “I condemn the brutal killing of an innocent girl. This is bizarre, what does she have to do with militancy? They (militants) have no ethics.”
Unidentified gunmen had fired at Shiraza Akhtar, a resident of Keller village in Shopian district of Kashmir, from point blank range, killing her instantly. No organisation or individual has claimed responsibility for it till now.
Chidambaram said that this is not the first time the militants have carried out such a cowardly act as they have killed many innocents: Reshma Begum, Mohd Aslam Alam, Nagina, who where completely innocents.
Taking on the hardliner separatists for their apparent silence on the issue, Chidambaram said, “They are embarrassed, they don’t know where to hide their faces.”
He also pointed out that whenever there is even a hint of the involvement of security forces in any case, they (separatists) are up in arms, but now when an innocent is killed at the hands of militants, they are silent.
Demanding that Hurriyat take a position on this issue, Chidambaram said, “They should come with a united stand on these killings.”
Chidambaram added that the J&K police have been asked to leave no stone unturned to nab the people behind the brutal killing of Shiraza.
However, the Home Minister was quick to make it clear that by pointing out to the alleged human rights violations by security forces, he was not in any way trying to defend any wrongdoing.
Chidambaram was also confident regarding the process of dialogue with the separatists in Jammu and Kashmir.
On the massive protests by people against the CBI report on the alleged double rape & murder in Shopian, Chidambaram said, “How can someone who has nothing to do with investigation just stand and say I condemn the CBI report. This is bizarre you cannot win this argument… How can people inquire into a report?”
“An investigative agency can only probe it. Even I can`t investigate. We must faith in CBI,” the minister added.
