Mehbooba’s U-turn on anti-army FIR

Taking a U-turn from the promise of taking the investigation into killing of two civilians in Ganowpora village of Shopian district to logical conclusion the Mehbooba government surprisingly informed the supreme court of the country that Jammu & Kashmir police has not named Major Aditya Kumar as one among the accused in the FIR registered in this connection. Inking a new history of snubbing the elected Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir on almost every issue concerning the security and constitutional status of the state the incumbent Modi government yet again showed intents of continuing the policy of blocking Mehbooba’s moves even in cases of normal investigation by making a plea in the supreme court of the country that Jammu & Kashmir can’t file any FIR against army without the prior consent of the central government under the section 7 of the armed forced special powers act (AFSPA). Had Mehbooba Mufti been serious about the prosecution of the army men responsible for the firing that resulted in the killing of two civilians in Ganowpora village of Shopian district on January 27 , then she would taken a word of endorsement from the home ministry over the issue before directing the police to register an FIR in this connection. Since the Mehbooba government has itself confessed before the Supreme Court that Major Aditya Kumar is not among the army men named accused in the FIR in Ganowpora firing incident and Supreme Court in its observations has said “After all, it is a case of an Army officer, not an ordinary criminal,” the quashing of FIR against army seems to be a foregone conclusion now. With the likely quashing of FIR against the army the investigation into the killing of two civilians in Ganowpora firing incident is almost a foregone conclusion. Had the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti successfully persuade the central government to endorse the Jammu & Kashmir government’s stand on FIR against army the credibility of the Chief Minister in view of her pronouncement to take the investigation of Ganowpora firing incident to logical conclusion on the floor of the state assembly has taken taken a big hit. Now almost in yet another Ganowpora like firing incident four more civilians have been killed Pahnoo village of the Shopian district but Chief Minister in view of her virtual snubbing by the central government with a direction from the Home Minister Rajnath Singh to be cautious in reacting to the situation concerning security is not daring to announce even a simple magisterial probe into the killing of four civilians in Pahnoo shootout. A single miscalculated decision has brought into question the political and administrative wisdom of the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and consequently the faith of the people in justice delivery system already questioned on many counts has become a crude joke in the eye of the people of Jammu & Kashmir now.