PDP leaders protest governor's rule, booked for 'instigating people against village defence committees'

Jammu: Some PDP members, including former MLC Firdous Tak, have been booked for allegedly instigating people against the village defence committees (VDCs), officials said on Saturday.

The development comes after workers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Tak, held a protest near a mosque in Kishtwar on Friday against the reported plans of the Jammu and Kashmir administration to strengthen the VDCs.

“Tak and others have been booked for instigating people against VDCs”, deputy commissioner, Kishtwar, Angrez Singh, told PTI. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti dubbed the FIR “false and frivolous” and demanded its immediate rollback.

“The party leaders have represented the sentiments and aspirations of the people but it seems that the local administration are working under pressure from a particular political organisation. The registration of the case only speaks about the sorry state of affairs in Chenab Valley,” the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.

She also warned the administration against the plans to arm civilians in Chenab Valley, saying the idea is “fraught with only dangerous consequences”.

The VDCs were setup in the mid-1990s with an aim to strengthen the security of those Hindus living in remote and mountainous areas of Doda, Kishtwar, Ramba, Rajouri, Reasi, Kathua and Poonch districts of the region.

The members of these committees not only guard the identified villages along the border, but also the infrastructural installations in and around them.