Panthers Party chief blames J-K CM Azad for police atrocities on migrants

Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party has blamed Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for the recent police atrocities on migrants.

Jammu, Aug 17 : Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party has blamed Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for the recent police atrocities on migrants.

At least 50 protestors and 20 policemen were hurt in the clashes.

Party's chief Bhim Singh said that Azad was "the real culprit" behind the police atrocities.

"The real culprit is not only the Station House Officer, but the real culprit is Ghulam Nabi Azad. Let me ask you now, if this atmosphere of freedom is meant for the people of Jammu and Kashmir," Singh said.

Singh said that the properties of Hindu migrants, popularly known as Pandits, were usurped by either the militants or the government.

"Sixty percent of the property of Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir has been usurped either by the government or the militants. In Shopian, they have made a bus stop on their property," he said.

Last week, police baton-charged Kashmir migrants, who were demanding state relief after being forced out of their ancestral homes due to militants' threat.

Meanwhile, over 300 protestors are making their way to Jammu to hold a protest march against the State Government's failure to provide them relief, despite a Supreme Court order to give them the benefits of migrants.

If declared migrants, these protestors are entitled to receive a fixed amount of monthly rationed food from the State Government.

More than 300 families had migrated from their homes in Udhampur District to a small town in Talwara following militant threat in 1998.

Large numbers of them fled the region after being targeted by militants. Many live in refugee camps in India.

The migrants say, they were never considered for any compensation by the Jammu and Kashmir Government.

ANI