Separatists react with cynicism to BSF trooper’s arrest

SRINAGAR - Separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday reacted with cynicism to the arrest of a Border Security Force (BSF) trooper for the killing of a 16-year-old youth, claiming several people have been killed by security forces over the last two decades.

“This is a positive sign on behalf of the BSF to admit the killing of an innocent youth, but what about those who have been killed by the security forces during the last two decades here?” asked Muhammad Yasin Malik, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

“The confession merely in a single case is not enough. We have thousands of youth who went missing after they were arrested by the security forces. What about them?” Malik said.

Lakhwinder Kumar, a trooper of 68 Battalion of the BSF, was Wednesday suspended and handed over to the police after preliminary investigations revealed his involvement in the killing of 16-year-old Zahid Farooq Sheikh, who was shot in the chest Feb 6 in Nishat area of Srinagar.

The teenager’s death sparked off violent protests in the valley with the government drawing flak from all corners.

“It was only because of the anger and protest demonstrations by the masses in Kashmir that the BSF admitted the involvement of its trooper in the killing of the youth,” said Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group.

Syed Ali Geelani, presently in New Delhi, told reporters over telephone: “They have admitted one killing to hide others.”

“They are misleading the people and the international community. They have confessed one killing. What about others?”

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah earlier in the day claimed his government had lived up to its word of “providing justice to the family of Zahid”.

“We believe in action and not making noises. The killer would get an exemplary punishment,” Abdullah said.