Srinagar: Kashmiri separatist leaders have been left exposed once again – this time by the floods in Jammu and Kashmir.
As per reports, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik was on September 13 seen disrupting relief and rescue operations in flood-hit J&K.
Malik and his aides reportedly tried to hamper the rescue and relief efforts being carried out by the Indian Army, under Operation Megh Rahat, in a flood-hit area of the Kashmir Valley.
As per reports, the JKLF chief and his aides hijacked a rescue boat in order to ‘personally’ distribute relief items.
Malik and his supporters are seen in a video – available on social media as well as broadcast by an English news channel – asking relief workers to abandon a boat so that they could carry out the rescue operation themselves. The separatists are even seen allegedly forcing ailing lady patients to disembark from the Army relief boat.
The JKLF chief reportedly said that Kashmiris do not want the Army rescue efforts to continue in Kashmir.
Earlier also, separatist leaders are believed to have provoked some Kashmiris to pelt stones at Army and NDRF rescue teams. In some instances, Army choppers bringing relief were not allowed to land.
These incidents highlight the fact that Indian Army’s unmatched rescue effort in Jammu and Kashmir has unnerved separatist leaders, who fear losing ground in the Valley. This despite the fact that they were nowhere to be seen in the initial aftermath of the massive floods.