Srinagar, Sep 15: Mayor of Srinagar and senior Apni Party Leader, Junaid Azim Mattu on Friday strongly condemned the JKNC president and Srinagar MP Dr Farooq Abdullah’s “inappropriate” behaviour with a young female reporter, and has sought a public apology from him to the young reporter and her family.
Terming his behaviour as chauvinistic and highly inappropriate, Junaid Mattu questioned the silence of his party leaders and asked them to “seek the remnants of their conscience within themselves so that they can gather the courage to speak against this harrowing public harassment of a young female reporter”.
“Dr Farooq Abdullah’s habitual and offensive behaviour in public might be a matter of entertainment for his party leaders and workers seem laughing in the background but I ask those leaders and NC workers what their reaction would have been if that young girl was their daughter or sister,” Mattu said while speaking the reporters at the sidelines of the inauguration of a Cricket Championship at HMT on Friday morning.
“Such behaviour would have generally attracted an FIR as per the laws in vogue had this been done by anyone else and had we as a society not relegated Dr Farooq’s public behaviour to the realm of entertainment and churlishness,” he said.
The Mayor of Srinagar added, “When it comes to our mothers and sisters, there is no question of political statements or political point scoring. Every conscientious public figure and politician should speak up and say ‘Enough is Enough’ — our mothers and sisters aren’t objects of ridicule to be mocked, inappropriately touched in jest and harassed by a public figure who holds an important position and should behave with utmost responsibility and sensitivity to the sentiments of the people.”
