Jammu, 31 July: Mehboba Mufti on Thursday called the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and President of Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (JKPDP), Mehboba Mufti on Thursday called the murder of 21-year-old Gurjar Yuva Parvage Ahmed in Jammu as a “state-provided terror”.
According to Srinagar -based news assembly agency Kashmir.com, after talking to reporters in Jammu after visiting Parvez Ahmed’s family in Nikki Tawi, the youth were killed in a fake encounter by the police on 24 July in Pure Chak, under the jurisdiction of the Satwari police station. He clearly dismissed the police version that Parvez was a drug pedaler, which is called “the story fed to justify an extraordinary execution”.
“This young boy was killed in a staging encounter. The police, who is going to protect our youth, has replaced the executioner. Parvez was not a criminal-he was a victim of the state’s barbarity. It is not a separate incident, but part of the growing pattern of targeted violence against the Gujar-Bekarwal community,” Mufti said.
He accused the administration of targeting the nomadic tribes of Jammu and Kashmir, which he described as a systematic campaign of marginalization and repression. He said, “The Gujar-Bekarwal community, which stands in its most difficult time by the state, is now being rewarded with bullets and false allegations. His loyalty is being punished,” he said.
Citing several recent cases, Mufti said that Parvez Ahmed’s assassination was the latest in a series of alleged excesses against the tribal population only.
“In February this year, the 25-year-old house of Kathua Bhilawar died of Deen’s suicide, in which the security forces were accused of atrocities on the baseless allegations of the Pakistani link. He left a video testimony. In March, three Gurjar youths of Kulgam were found dead in the Visaw River.
Ms. Mufti also raised the case of Altaf Hussain Lali from Bandipora, who was killed in April after being labeled by the police. “His family insists that it was a staging. Similarly, on 4 May, Imtiaz Ahmed Magre of Tang Marg died, while allegedly in army custody.
Expressing concern over the growing disappearance, Ms. Mufti mentioned Manzoor Ahmed Tedwa from Kishtwar, who has been missing from her grazing fields for more than two months. He also highlighted the case of Mudseer Ahmed Dhakad, a student of Madrasa, a tribal of Devsar, Kulgam, which has been missing from 22 June. “Families have been argued for reply. There is no transparency, no accountability,” he said.
He said, “Thousands of Gurjar-Bekarwal youth have been detained, harassed, and later left without evidence. Especially the Katua and Samba police have sown the sowing of fear and isolation between tribal communities, detailed on a large scale,” he said.
Ms. Mufti said that nomadic communities are being harassed during their seasonal migration, are facing obstruction in routes, smuggling cattle and the baseless allegations of drug trafficking and forced removal. “We saw how Dhok was demolished in Pahgam in 2020. It’s not just neglect – it’s a targeted displacement,” he said.
Recalling an 8-year-old Bakerwal girl’s 2018 Kathua rape-killing, he said that the trauma had deteriorated by communal mobilization in favor of the accused. “This was a clear message for the community – that their pain does not matter,” he said.
Smoting the current elected government under Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Ms. Mufti said that Gujar-Bekarwal communities had expected security and inclusion. “But cruelty continues. This government, as before, has failed them. We do not see any justice, only silence. Our tribal population is considered to be spent,” he said.
Mehboba Mufti urged the immediate suspension of the police personnel involved in the murder of Parvez Ahmed, demanding an independent and judicial inquiry from time to time. He said, “The delay in justice was denied. If the state fails to work, it will only deepen separation and mistrust. Democracy cannot survive without accountability,” he warned.
Mufti assured the family suffering from full support of PDP and vowed to extend the matter on every possible platform. He said, “We will not allow these deaths to be reduced only in figures. These are human life, and their dignity should be restored,” he said. (KDC)
