SRINAGAR: National Conference President, Farooq Abdullah, has reiterated the demand for an impartial probe into the killing and torturing of civilians by Indian troops at an army camp in Surankote area of Poonch district in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to a Kashmir Media Service report on Saturday, the Indian Army had picked up several civilians after the killing of five troops in an attack in the area on December 21. The army killed three of them in custody and injured others by subjecting them to severe torture. A video, which went viral on social media, showed the Indian troops brutally beating the civilians besides pouring chili powder on their wounds.
Farooq Abdullah visited the Government Hospital in Rajouri and met the injured civilians. Consoling the victims’ families, he strongly condemned the incident and said that there was no place for such incidents in any society. He also reiterated the demand for an impartial and time bound judicial probe into the incident.
Later talking to reporters, he maintained that dialogue between India and Pakistan is the only way to resolve the Kashmir dispute and expressed the hope for renewed talks after elections in both the countries. He added that war is no solution and New Delhi must realize this fact.
Farooq Abdullah also charged the Narendra Modi-led Indian government of causing discrimination against the minority communities in India. Such a stance of the BJP government will only weaken India, he added. KMS