Anantnag: Posters issued by an unknown group, “Pulwama and Shopian Tigers”, appeared at several places in Pulwama district on Saturday questioning militants about their own kin working in the police and other government departments.
The posters appeared a day after three policemen were abducted and killed by militants in neighbouring Shopian district.
Printed in Urdu, dated September 21, the posters were pasted at many places in main Pulwama town and its peripheries.
“It is with a heavy heart that we have to say that by targeting policemen or their families, some of our mujahid brothers have taken a wrong step in the name of Jihad,” the posters read.
In recent weeks, militants have been warning policemen, particularly Special Police Officers (SPOs), to resign from the police department or face dire consequences.
On Friday, soon after militants killed three policemen in Shopian district, many SPOs announced their resignations through videos and pictures which they posted on social networking sites.
The “Pulwama and Shopian Tigers” said in its posters that policemen trying to earn their livelihood are being labelled as traitors but it is actually the militants’ own relatives who are the real traitors.
Questioning whether “Jihad” was to be imposed on “poor families” only, the posters further raise questions such as why the relatives of militants do not leave their jobs and sit at home? “Is not Zeenat-ul-Islam’s brother a policeman? Doesn’t Mujahid Saifullah’s brother work with the Air Force? Is not Mujahid Adil Ahmad Bhat’s father a policeman?” the posters ask.
“Riyaz Naikoo’s father was arrested and he (Riyaz Naikoo) gave an ultimatum of four days for his release. What about the hundreds of people who have been languishing in jails since years? Why no word is being uttered about them?” the posters ask.
Threatening to rise against militants, the “group”, as the Pulwama and Shopian Tigers referred to itself, requested people to think over the “points raised” and asked militants to stop killing policemen. “We will be forced to rise against you,” the posters warned.
Meanwhile, for the second consecutive day, SPOs continued to resign in different parts of south Kashmir.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had on Friday termed the news of resignations as “false propaganda”.
