Srinagar March 3:(KNS) Describing the reported plans of the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to revive the Village Defence Committees (VDCs) as alarming, CPI(M) leader Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami said that the move is bound to prove counter-productive.
These committees have faced accusations of gross abuses in J&K in the recent past. Reportedly J&K Police has filed around 200 cases against VDC members for rape and murder etc. Their role is shadowed by their involvement in rampant human rights abuses.
At a time when J&K, and especially Kashmir, has been put under unprecedented restrictions, including on civil society and media, the move is bound to create a wedge between communities and contradicts tall claims of normalcy in the region.(KNS)