Srinagar, Mar 17 (KNS): Demanding justice in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl, an open solidarity forum named 'Justice for Asifa', on Saturday held a demonstration here at Pratab Park.
“The Hindu right-wing people under the banner of Hindu Ekta Manch have shamelessly supported the accused in the rape and murder case and have adopted extreme steps to threaten and intimidate the Gujjars and Bakerwals, who are struggling to resist this assault on them,” said a protestor.
He said that this gruesome act is not just an individual act of sexual violence but a premeditated and collective punishment on the minority community in order to force them out of their traditional homes.
Another protestor said that this rape-murder of a minor is part of a well thought out conspiracy to attack the Gujjar and Bakerwal community which historically has been marginalized by the government and the majority population as well.
He added that such gruesome incident must cannot be seen as an isolated case. The history of Jammu is witness to the brutal assault on the collective Muslim community. This incident is not an ordinary case of spreading of Hindu right-wing sentiment but as the Hindu Ekta Manch rallies represent it is a collective political force of Congress as well BJP coming together against the Muslim nomad minority and spreading the threat to other areas of the Jammu division.
“We demand that this case of rape and murder be treated as “rarest of rare” cases and the culprits and conspirators be condemned to death penalty, as the gruesomeness of the attack deserves no mercy,” he added. (KNS)