Jammu and Kashmir authorities demolished the houses of two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists in Anantnag, a day after a policeman was shot dead in the south Kashmir Anantnag district. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said that such actions would not restore peace.
Officials said houses of Adil Thokar and Haroon Rashid Ganaie, residents of south Kashmir and associated with Lashkar-e-Toiba, were razed during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.
Locals said they heard a “loud explosion” during the night. Before the demolitions, the family members were asked to vacate the houses.
The security forces on Wednesday had launched a massive crackdown by picking up over 2,500 people for questioning in different parts of the Kashmir Valley.
Wednesday’s attack has triggered concerns especially when the Amarnath Yatra is underway and a large number of security personnel are deployed in the south Kashmir region in view of the yatra.
This is not the first time that such an action has been carried out by security forces in the valley. Last year, after the Pahalgam attack in April, security forces had demolished houses of local militants. The move had also triggered criticism from political leaders.
On Thursday, political parties in the valley again criticised the decision to demolish houses. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said terrorism cannot be ended through house demolitions or mass detentions alone, while stressing that “public support is essential to restore lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir.”
“I understand the anger of the police, but there is an order from the Supreme Court that such summary actions should not be taken. We saw the same situation after the Pahalgam attack when some people’s houses were bulldozed. I had to talk to the central government at that time and stop this process,” he said.
He said, “When the investigation and inquiry took place, it was found that none of the locals were involved in that attack. Demolishing houses and arresting thousands of people will not improve the situation. On the contrary, the situation will get worse.”
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday said the killing of a police officer in the line of duty is a “heinous and condemnable act”.
“But detaining over a thousand people and demolishing the homes of families of two alleged militants amount to collective punishment that has no place in a democracy,” Mufti said.
She said if the Union Government “itself maintains that militancy has been reduced to near zero, it must adopt a more humane and lawful approach towards innocent civilians instead of resorting to tit for tat for an entire community.”