Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday ruled out any large presence of Islamic State (IS) group in Kashmir however the cops said that the youth were being ‘radicalized’ through its ideology.
Speaking during a press conference, Director General of Police (DGP), Jammu and Kashmir, Dilbagh Singh said, “In the past also, carrying those (IS) flags and displaying them publicly to show that there is a very large presence of such elements…we would again say that presence (of IS) is not that big but the fact that people are being radicalised on those lines that can’t be denied.”
He added that there were elements who are making ‘serious efforts’ to radicalize a section of youth.
“Kashmir civil society has been as such been an open society, a very secular kind of culture where we extend due respect to our places of worship. Such efforts (of radicalisation) had been made at various quarters and their expression has been seen in the kind of activities we saw other day (at Jamia Masjid),” said Singh.
After the Friday congregational prayers last week, a group of masked boys entered the Jamia Masjid and desecrated the pulpit of the mosque.
The incident took place in Jama Masjid in the afternoon after the namazis had left. In the meantime his associates videotaped it.
In the video which was widely shared on social media, the hooligans can be seen on the Mimbar (Pulpit) of the mosque waving the ISIS flag. They can also be heard chanting slogans in favour of ISIS (Daulat-e-Islam).
Moreover, former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti rang Mirwaiz to express her outrage over the incident. However, Hurriyat in a statement called her outrage ‘ironical’ as Friday prayers were barred at the historic mosque most of the time during her rule.
On law and order situation, Singh said the situation was by and large peaceful across the state in 2018.
He said police along with other forces carried out 97 anti-militancy operations in 2018, out of which 83 witnessed no collateral damage while during some operations precious lives were lost.
“I once again appeal to the youth that life is very precious and it should not be lost like this,” he said, adding that killings are very painful to the force.
