Minister for Public Works Naeem Akhtar today cautioned people against demonstrating collective frenzied behaviour in the wake of the mass hysteria around braid-chopping.
Expressing his anguish at the latest incident in which a mentally challenged person was wickedly assaulted in Sopore by accusing him to be a braid chopper, the Minister said whether braid chopping is real or hysterical, physical or psychological, one thing has become clear, "We as a people are the worst posters of what we claim to be - Kashmiris. Neither Kashmir's ethos nor the teachings of the religion of Islam that we claim to be following, allows, much less recommend the kind of brutal behaviour that we display,” said Akhtar.
The Minister termed it as an ethical crisis facing Kashmir. “It is a millstone around our neck and we alone can and must throw it away. You, me and every Kashmiri,” he said.
Akhtar called on the people to desist from resorting to violence which is only harming people themselves. “No braid chopper has been apprehended so far and it is the duty of the law enforcing agencies to nab the culprits. But numerous innocent persons have become the victims of our collective criminal behaviour. The Sopore incident, bone chilling as it is, is only the latest,” said Akhtar. “We are only proving those people right who want us painted black. Having reached here in our disastrous moral descent we will need no one to argue against us. And of course no one can argue in our favour too. Unless we introspect and speak up.”
The Minister also urged the law enforcing agencies to restore the sense of security among the people in the wake of the fear-psychosis created around braid-chopping scare.