A day after a sarpanch was shot dead by militants in Sopore district of Jammu and Kashmir, All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) on Saturday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Panchayati Raj Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar over the incident.
“We demand immediate resignation of Chief Minister and his Panchayati Raj Minister as they could not protect the panchayat members who are being openly threatened by the most dreaded terror organisation,” Chairman, AJKPC, Shafiq Mir said here.
Mir said that “the government has totally failed to protect and provide security to members of panchayats”.
Habibullah Mir, who was affiliated with the Congress, was shot dead by suspected militants at his residence in Sopore district yesterday.
Anil Sharma, general secretary of the AJKPC also criticised the state government for its response in dealing with the issue of security of the 33,000 panchayat members in the state.
“We have time and again made several pleas to the Panchayati Raj Minister, Union Home Minister, state DGP and several other senior police officials but still the leaders of the AJKPC are not provided any security cover”, he alleged.
The attack was the first on a panchayat member by militants this year. Several sarpanches and panchayat members have been targeted by suspected militants in the state since 2011.
PTI