Er. Rasheed condemns arrest of Riyaz Naik’s father and torching houses of militants

Appeals militants to release son of policeman without harm

Srinagar 30 August (PR): Reminding Prime Minister Narindra Modi of his promises of embracing Kashmiris, AIP President Er. Rasheed has condemned the arrest of top Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naik’s father Assadullah Naikoo in  Awantipora at the hands of police. In a statement issued today Er. Rasheed said “Arresting Syed Salah-ud-din’s second son Syed Shakeel and burning houses of militants and south Kashmir is condemnable. Arresting and humiliating families of militants has neither helped in the past nor may help in the future, as political dispute needs a political resolution.  Such operations have yielded nothing in early nineties and security agencies must not forget the fact that no one picks up the gun by taking his family into confidence. Torching houses of Syed Naveed and ShahJahan in Nazneenpora and Amshipora in Shopian has exposed the claims of government that there exists rule of law”. Er. Rasheed reminded Prime Minister Narindra Modi of his offers of embracing Kashmiris and said that whatsoever is happening on the ground does not match Prime Minister’s offer and claims. Appealing militants to release Asif Rafiq Rather son of a serving policeman from Tral without harming him Er. Rasheed said “It is unacceptable to harass families of militants or those of security forces. Both the militants and security forces must respect families of each other and stop promoting infighting within society. Militants must listen to the appeal of Asif’s mother and one should not forget that being either policeman’s son or militants father or son is not a crime. All stake holders need to realize that hatred will take us nowhere”. He said “Security agencies should not operate like underground organization and have no right to vandalize the properties of the families of the relatives of the militants and should restrain from taking law in their own hands. While every Kashmiri can feel the pain of families of policemen who were killed in Shopian, there can be no rustication whatsoever in arresting Riyaz Naikoo’s father or damaging the properties of families of militants and other acts of state terrorism.”