By Firdous Hassan
Srinagar, Jun 21: Hindu Ekta Manch (HEM), an outfit formed to defend the accused in Kathua minor’s rape and murder case, termed the fall of BJP- PDP government as “moral victory” for Dogras.
In a presser on Thursday, Kant Kumar, who identified himself as vice-president of the outfit, dubbed the BJP-PDP Coalition as “separatist government”, which “harassed the people of Jammu especially Hindus.”
“The attitude of Mehbooba Mufti led government had adopted a very wrong policy towards people of Jammu. Our people were being harassed, lodged in jails and it was due to the pressure exerted by Hindu Ekta Manch that the government ultimately had to fall,” he said.
Rejecting the J&K Police-led investigation into the Kathua minor’s rape and murder case, Kant said “their hopes for CBI investigation have rekindled with the Governor’s rule in the state”.
“We welcome the Governor rule in the state. We hope the Governor will take serious note into our demand of handing over the case to CBI. We have hired senior lawyers for Supreme Court and we hope that justice will be delivered during the first week of July,” Kant said.
He suggested the politicians of Jammu region to float a separate party to “protect” the region.
“All the leaders here should keep their political affiliation aside and form a regional party. We saw that the Central government was functioning on the dictations by former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. It became evident during ceasefire announcement when BJP was opposing it in Jammu and still the decision was announced by the Centre,” he said.
Defending the accused in Kathua minor’s rape-and-murder, Kant said “the previous government had framed charges against them.”
“There was pressure from the state government to make this case a communal one. We approached everyone from BJP, but to no avail. Then highhandedness by Kashmiris and the separatist government was followed with arrests and beating of lawyers and people,” he said.
On the arrest of Chaudhary Rajinder Singh, brother of BJP leader Chaudhary Lal Singh, Kant said the government was “not taking action against the stone pelters in Kashmir, whom he declared anti-nationals.”
“We see that many people often speak against Rahul Gandhi or even PM Modi. But the state government took no time to file a case against Chaudhary Rajinder Singh. We don’t support his language against Chief Minister, but the government couldn’t have gone to this level,” he said.
