Kashmir Violence: Teen tourist succumbs to death after hit by stone; Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says 'it is completely condemnable'
Kashmir Violence: Teen tourist succumbs to death after hit by stone; Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says 'it is completely condemnable'
Barely in 36 hours after Kashmir University professor Rafi Bhat turned militant was gun down in a Shopian encounter along with 5 other terrorists. The dead of 32-year-old professor triggered a massive protest turned out violence in Kashmir. The attack from the stone-pelters during the violence at took the life of a Chennai teenager tourist. R Thirumani was heading towards tourist resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir along with family when their convoy came under attack from stone-pelters. The Defence Minister Sitharaman on Tuesday said the death of said the teenager's death was "completely condemnable" and not "very conducive" for tourism in the Valley.
"They came under attack at 8 am on Sunday while the family was heading towards Gulmarg. The injured was rushed to Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar where he succumbed to his injuries at around 8 pm," Deputy Inspector-General of Central Kashmir Range, VK Birdi said. "Stones hit his forehead and nose. He was critical for some time before he succumbed to his injuries," Birdi added.
The Sitharaman also said armed forces have to be firm with terrorists and described the Kashmir issue as "very sensitive" and nuanced. "I don't know whether it (the incident) was inadvertent or (committed) knowingly but it is completely condemnable," the minister told reporters at an interaction here.
"I am sure the chief minister (Mehbooba Mufti) herself is keen on getting more tourists to Kashmir because that will also help in restoring normalcy. So, if that has been a stated desire, for a stone pelting incident to have hurt and killed a tourist, it's certainly not very conducive to that," Sitharaman said.
"You can't hold the armed forces responsible for being firm with terrorists. We need to be firm with terrorists. So, we have to understand first about putting everything back at the doorstep of the Army... They have to be firm...," she said. Sitharaman added that at the same time there needs to be a free and safe movement of tourists so that normalcy can be restored in the Valley.