N.N Vohra who is the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir called an emergency meeting in Srinagar. The subject of this emergency meeting was, the death of 3 civilians which includes a teenage girl. All the 3 civilians are dying ion the army firing during the day in south Kashmir Kulgam.

 

 

Spokesman of Raj Bhawan said the government expressed deep anguish on the death of all the 3 civilians. He reiterated the vital importance of the army and other forces to follow standard operating procedures. Army should follow SOP to avoid all the incidents of civilians casualties and collateral damage.

In this emergency meeting, the governor had invited Lt. General Ranbir Singh, Northern Army Commander.

Three civilians killed in the army firing was identified as, Shakir Ahmad who is 22 years old, Irshad Ahmad who is 20 years old and the teenage girl Andleeb. They were killed during an army patrol opened fire when confronted by protestors in Kulgam area.

Statement of Srinagar based spokesperson

 

 

A spokesperson said some unidentified firing from the terrorist end resulted in injuries of soldiers. To give a response back to this firing for the security of own troops, controlled shooting resorted. This may cause unfortunate loss of human lives.

Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik in a joint statement said, “the use of bullets reflects the policy of the government of India to crush all dissent with use of absolute force and might. The idea is to instil fear in the hearts of people.”

Residents of the Kulgam area have urged people to observe Sunday as, black day against the army for killing innocent civilians including a teenage girl.

Political condition is in Kashmir catastrophic. Various political parties like people democratic party, Congress and the national conference also condemned the death of civilians in the army firing.

Statement of former Chief Minister

 

 

Mehbooba Mufti who is the president of the of PDP and the former Chief Minister said, “it is unfortunate blood is being split. The need is to put an end to it.”