Gogoi row: AFSPA, lack of accountability encourage such actions, says Mirwaiz

Srinagar, May 25: Reacting over the Army major’s controversy, Hurriyat (M) Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Friday, said that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and lack of accountability in Kashmir were the reasons encouraging forces to do as they please.
Addressing the Friday gathering here at Jamia Masjid, Mirwaiz said that the armed forces know that “come what may they will be saved even if found guilty and instead of being punished will be rewarded as major Gogoi was in the human shield case.”
“It is this unaccountability that emboldens the forces and leads to repression harassment intimidation and instilling fear that is pushing Kashmiri’s to the wall and in a way forcing the young to take to arms to avenge the atrocities,” he said.
Major Leetul Gogoi of was held at a Srinagar hotel on Wednesday along with a local girl, who, as per reports, belongs to a very poor family. Gogoi’s had tied a Budgam local Farooq Dar to his jeep and paraded him as human shield last year.
“It shows the terror these people have struck in the hearts of locals that as per the news report the girl’s family did not even report the couple of nocturnal visit this army man with his accomplice made to the house of the girl. They were threatened of being killed if they told anyone,” he said.
“Instead of registering a case against this shameless man and taking action, the local authority let him scot free. This incident brings to fore the vulnerability of Kashmiri’s even that of our women as a consequence of being under the yoke of oppression,” he said.