STATE TIMES NEWS
ANANTNAG: Praising security forces in combating terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, former Chief Minister of erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir and senior Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad advised them to try their best to avoid civilian killings during encounter with terrorists.
“We lost thousand of youth and security force personnel in Jammu & Kashmir due to terrorism for the last three decades which was a big loss and can never be fulfilled,” Azad said while addressing a public rally at Kokarnag in district Anantnag.
“We will support our security forces in their endeavour to finish terrorism in J&K and saving lives of lakhs of people from terrorists but also feel sad when any civilian dies in encounter,” he said, adding that armed forces must finish terrorism but at the same time they try their best to protect lives of innocent civilians besides taking effective measures to remove prevailing sense of fear from their hearts.
Azad said the people of the Valley are against the killing of innocent civilians.
He also appealed to the politicians to visit the terrorism-infested areas of the Valley to encourage the people to support the armed forces in eliminating terrorism.
Azad said that there is a need to create an atmosphere in the terrorism-infested areas as people in such areas are worried about their safety.
Azad also criticised the revocation of Article 370 by the BJP government in 2019 and said that the struggle for statehood will continue, adding that nobody could have imagined that J&K will be divided into two parts.