Abid Bashir
Srinagar, Nov 18: National Conference vice-president and the former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah Thursday said while pitching for the exhumation of those killed in Hyderpora encounter said that despite having served as the head of the erstwhile State he never heard or saw anything like “hybrid militant.”
Omar led a sit-in of party leaders at a local park at Sonwar here, a few meters away from his Gupkar residence, against the “government’s denial in handing over bodies of those killed in Hyderpora encounter to their families for last rites.”
Speaking to reporters, Omar said he doesn’t ask for anything except the bodies of those buried in Handwara. “I had decided not to stage a sit-in but to knock on other doors but the way families of slain were treated yesterday evening, I couldn’t control myself and decided to raise my voice,” the NC leader said. “The families were first called to the SP office and then to PCR and then asked to wait for two, three days. So I had no option but to join the families in protest.”
He said that LG Manoj Sinha has ordered an inquiry and he was hopeful that the probe will establish the fact and will be held in a transparent manner. “J&K police has itself admitted that civilians were killed in crossfire. I want their bodies to be exhumed from Handwara and the same be handed over to their families for last rites,” said Omar, who was flanked by senior party leaders in the local park here.
Asked about “Hybrid militants”, the former chief minister of J&K said that he has chaired a series of UHQ meetings when he was heading the erstwhile State. “I have read so many intelligence reports and I do watch happenings across the world but I haven’t heard about Hybrid militants. Some should make me understand what it means,” he said and reiterated that bodies of those slain in Hyderpora encounter be handed over to their families. Meanwhile, Omar told reporters that he was in touch with the family of the slain and they have been assured by the IGP Kashmir that bodies of their loved ones will be given back. “If the families have been assured, I am assured. There is no purpose of continuing the sit-in. It wasn’t my purpose to create any law and order or any other issue. Hope these families get justice,” he said, adding that his only motive was that no other family suffers like those who were protesting in the bone chilling cold at press enclave yesterday.
