Srinagar: The death of a Chennai based young tourist in yesterday stone pelting incident has received condemnation from the hardliners camp in valley.
Expressing grief over the loss of young Chennai based tourist life in valley,Mirwaiz Omar Farooq has termed the incident as rowdy act of hooligans. Condeming those responsible for the death of a tourist in stone pelting, , Mirwaiz in a twitter said ” Its totally against our ethos of treating respected tourists and brings a bad name to the peoples movement”
In the same breath the Joint Resistance Forum, comprising the three main separatist groups in Kashmir also condemned the death of a tourist whose vehicle was targeted by stone-pelters and said the incident had dented the image of the Valley and its tradition of welcoming guests.
The death of 22-year-old Chennai resident R Thirumani in a hospital here yesterday was “unfortunate” and had undermined their struggle, said a statement from the Forum, comprising the hardline and moderate factions of the Hurriyat Conference and the JKLF. “Tourists are our guests and we should be loyal to our Kashmiri and religious traditions by refraining from harassing them,” the statement in Urdu said.
The leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and JKLF chief Yaseen Malik, said the Valley has for years hosted tourists in the best traditions of Kashmiri hospitality. People in the Valley, the statement to the press said, should refrain from destroying the basic fabric of Kashmiriyat in the state.