Srinagar, Sep 16: The Jammu and Kashmir branch of the Congress on Saturday said that militancy was on the rise in the valley and urged that the government formulate a comprehensive strategy to stop it. Vikar Rasool Wani, head of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC), denounced the Wednesday shooting deaths of three members of the security forces in the Kokernag district. In the Wednesday engagement with the militants, Major Ashish Dhonchak, Col. Manpreet Singh, the commanding officer of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Deputy Superintendent Humayun Bhat, and a soldier all lost their lives. On Saturday, the gunfight’s fourth day began.“We categorically denounce it. It is a terrible tragedy. As the Government of India and the LG administration assert, militancy has not ended. To help people escape the life of hardship they have been leading for the past 35 years, I believe they should develop a comprehensive strategy to end militancy, Wani remarked. Wani stated that the party is grieved by the killings and that it will refrain from engaging in politics over the matter. He continued, “I think that militancy is again reviving and the government should take some solid steps (against it). There was an incident in Rajouri as well, and there is fire in Uri as well.According to the president of the JKPCC, the reality in the valley differs from the picture the BJP was painting of the rest of the nation. “They utilise it to give presentations in other states when the situation on the ground is different. They falsely implied that Jammu and Kashmir had previously been a part of Pakistan before Article 370 was repealed.“They employ militancy politically to try to improve the situation. Such concerns are in the national interest, and Congress and other like-minded parties have never used the political martyr card. Wani criticised the BJP for seeking votes in the name of the Pulwama martyrs. Wani had earlier stated in a press conference that the Congress will begin a protest programme against the “anti-people measures” of the government the next week.He declared that the party would hold protests every day in two districts, one in the provinces of Jammu and Kashmir, from September 19 to September 28. Wani urged a CBI investigation into the alleged scam in the Jal Shakti department. According to him, additional targets of the protest would be the ongoing installation of pre-paid smart metres and the forcible collection of energy charges from the public. The removal of additional taxes on a number of American goods, such as apples, etc., which will ruin Jammu and Kashmir’s apple industry, and the forcible imposition of property, water, and toll fees are the other problems that may spark protests, according to the JKPCC president. (Agencies)
