SRINAGAR: A group of people, including social activists, staged a protest outside the Hurriyat Conference office here on Monday against the killing of Kashmiri Pandit farmer Puran Krishan Bhat by terrorists last week, officials said.
The Hurriyat denounced what it called hooliganism by sponsored goons with police as bystanders .
The protesters assembled outside the office of the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat at Rajbagh here and held a protest. They held the Hurriyat responsible for the bloodshed in Kashmir Valley.
The protesters daubed “India” on the main gate of the Hurriyat’s central building and brought down the signboard of the separatist amalgam, the officials said.
The gate was locked.
The protesters included social activists, municipal corporators and Kashmiri Pandits, the officials added.
One of the protesters said the Hurriyat office will be closed down soon and an orphanage will be run from the building.
Another protester, a Kashmiri Pandit, said the people of Kashmir have realised that they want peace and not bloodshed.
Bhat was gunned down by terrorists on Saturday outside his ancestral house in the Chowdhary Gund area of south Kashmir’ Shopian district, where he had gone to look after his orchards. Bhat was cremated in Jammu on Sunday.
Candlelight marches were held on Sunday evening across the valley against the killing.
In a statement, the Hurriyat denounced the hooliganism demonstrated outside its office by sponsored goons with police as bystanders .
It is a petty attempt at diverting attention from the authorities’ failure to safeguard the lives of Kashmiri Pandits. It is shameful that the unfortunate killing is being exploited for promoting propaganda against Hurriyat whose activists and leaders are either in jails or under house detention, the separatist amalgam said.
It said the Hurriyat, in principle, has always denounced killings of all hues and has since its inception advocated the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley with dignity and in safety. (PTI)
