SRINAGAR (KIMS) — Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference President and Handwara MLA Sajad Lone on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the police verification process, alleging it has turned into “collective punishment” for families across Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking in the Assembly, Lone said hundreds of youths are being denied police clearance because of alleged actions of distant relatives.
“If one person in your family has committed a mistake, then hundreds of youth associated with that family are denied police clearance,” he said.
Citing a case from Baramulla district, Lone told the House that a young man who had secured a ₹2-lakh job in Hyderabad was denied verification because his uncle was labelled an overground worker despite the uncle having already been killed.
“In many cases, the youth were born after the death of the person because of whom they are being punished. Are they not Indians?” Lone asked, adding that even medical graduates were unable to practice due to denied clearances.
Urging Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to take up the issue in Delhi, Lone said the government must highlight the suffering of Kashmir’s youth instead of limiting itself to expressions of gratitude.
Raising concerns over demolitions, Lone said while officials had visited affected families, the government had formally defended all such actions in Assembly replies.
“This is a very bad time. Article 370 is gone, 35A is gone, the Assembly was gone, we became a UT. There is a toxic environment,” he warned.
Referring to his constituency Handwara, Lone said 55 shopkeepers who bought properties through government auctions decades ago have now been served eviction notices, cautioning that such actions could be misused in future.
On homestays and tourism, he questioned municipal permission requirements in rural areas, saying people should be allowed to earn their livelihood without unnecessary hurdles.
“Heavens won’t fall if they don’t have one. Look at your own constituencies, 90% don’t have this permission either. Let people work, let them earn.”
In a lighter exchange, Lone took a swipe at CPI(M) legislator Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, expressing surprise over his praise for what he termed a non-performing government.
Concluding his address, Lone raised the issue of daily wagers, criticizing what he described as an arrogant tone adopted in public statements.
“I saw the Honorable CM speaking on TV in a very arrogant tone, basically saying, ‘Do whatever you want to do.”
“True valor would have been if they had used this tone before the elections, when they were promising to regularize all of them,” he said.
“If you can’t regularize them, at least use kind words,” he said. — (KIMS)