Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today condemned the killing of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz, the young army officer from Kulgam, by militants and questioned whether murders or looting banks would resolve anything.
She said it was a "big tragedy" that the people "who are crying over the Kashmir issue" are killing Kashmiris "especially our youth who come from ordinary background and want to succeed in life like the martyr Fayaz".
Talking to reporters, she said Fayaz had become an officer in the army at such a young age of 22 "and was brutally killed within few seconds."
The Chief Minister said such incidents are "a moment of reckoning" for the people of the state to see whether the solution of the Kashmir issue lied in killing people and looting banks.
"Police personnel and bank officials have also been killed before. So I feel it is a moment of reckoning for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially the people of the Valley, that those who cry over Kashmir issue... Does the solution to this issue lie in looting banks and weapons or brutally killing our youth who become something or want to become something after getting education," she said.
Earlier, in a statement, Mehbooba condemned the killing of Lt Fayaz, saying "what was more painful to note is that the young officer had come home on vacation where he was attending the marriage of his cousin."
She conveyed her heartfelt sympathies with the bereaved family of Lt Fayaz and prayed for his eternal solace.
The officer was abducted by militants from his relative's house last night and his bullet-riddled body was found this morning.
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