Srinagar, March 07 (KNO) : Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCC&I) Thursday condemned the assault on two Kashmiri dry fruit vendors in Lucknow on Wednesday. A spokesperson of the KCC&I in a statement issued to KNO said that more condemnable than the attack was the State patronage extended to goons and hooligans in Uttar Pradesh and other States. “The registration of the case under weak and feeble provisions of rioting and breach of peace, for which only one person has been booked, seems to have been intentionally done to facilitate the early release of the culprit. The videos of the incident clearly show it to be a case of attempt to murder and how the Uttar Pradesh police interpreted it to be a case of one man riot is indicative of external influence,” he said.
He said the State of Uttar Pradesh has, by its brazen patronage, shown scant regard for the directions of the Supreme Court of India issued to, among others, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, for taking prompt and necessary action to prevent incidents of threat and assault on Kashmiris.
Nasir Hamid Khan, Senior Vice President, KCC&I urged the Governor Satya Pal Malik to use his good offices for ensuring that cases are registered for attempt to murder and other stringent provisions of criminal law against the goons and the organisations they belong to. “There was enough evidence for invocation of these provisions and it would also act as a deterrent to others thinking of targeting innocent people in the future,” he said.
He said KCC&I was hopeful that the Supreme Court would take note of the complicity of various States’ who were registering cases under weak provisions of law. “This conduct has resulted in goons and hooligans being embolden to post videos of their murderous assaults on social media,” he said.
In the interest of providing justice to the growing number of victims of assault and intimidation, the KCC&I would also be consulting the J&K High Court Bar Association, Srinagar regarding demand for setting up of a Special Trial Court, registration of criminal proceedings in Srinagar or other legal remedies available as a free and fair trial outside Kashmir seemed impossible in the prevalent hostile condition.(KNO)