Shopian, Dec 30: Member Parliament (MP) from Srinagar Constituency and President, National Conference, Dr Farooq Abdullah on Saturday appealed to the government to provide compensation to the injured civilians of Poonch incident undergoing treatment at different hospitals in Jammu.
Speaking to the media persons here in south Kashmir’s Shopian district after returning from Poonch, Dr Farooq said the injured civilians undergoing treatment in Udhampur, Rajouri and Surankote are labourers. “These manual labourers have injuries in their legs and arms and unable to do any work till they recover,” he said, appealing to the government to provide Rs 5 lakh each to the injured and ration for six months.
This is necessary to win the confidence of civilians, he emphasised.
The NC chief added, “The war against terrorism can be won with the support of civilians and without them we will not win it. The good thing is that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently visited the victims’ families in Poonch and assured them of the investigation into the incident and severe punishment to those found guilty.”
Abdullah said they hope the inquiry is completed at the earliest and people will come to know the quantum of punishment accorded to the perpetrators soon. “Otherwise they will lose the trust of the people,” he said.
Three civilians had died and around eight were badly injured following alleged torture by security forces in custody after terrorists targetted their convoy, killing five soldiers in Poonch on December 21, 2023.
Dr Farooq also blamed Pakistan for terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. “The end to terrorism is possible only through talks and unless both India and Pakistan don’t hold talks terrorism will not stop,” he said, adding that war is not a solution.
