J&K: Terror victim urges PM Modi to arm locals with better weapons for self-defence, cites Rajouri civilian killings

Rajouri (Jammu & Kashmir) [India], January 20 (ANI): In the aftermath of the Rajouri terror attacks this month, a woman teacher from Jammu & Kashmir has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide village defence guards with automatic weapons for self-protection citing “fear” among people.

The teacher, namely Sunita Thakur, who is a victim of a terrorist attack at her home in which her father was killed in 2002, hails from the far-flung remote area of Rajouri. Two terrorists had opened fire at three houses separated at a distance of around 50 metres from each other at upper Dangri village on January 1, which was followed by an explosion on January 2. Seven civilians were killed in the terror attacks. Speaking to ANI, Thakur said that people are unarmed in the region and there is a need for better guns for the Village defence guards so that they could assist the police in boosting security.

She also called for increasing the number of police personnel in the area where she lives, as the administration had provided her security after the killing of her father.
“My father was killed in 2002. Fear had gripped the area back then. Fear is gripping people again today. People are unarmed. The police are with us, but only 3-4 personnel are present. We want the provision of more personnel. Better guns should be provided to Village defence guards, who already have weapons, so that they could assist the police. Two of our families were wiped out in Rajouri. I want to say that we should not die unarmed,” she said.

She urged PM Modi and the local administration to provide the people in the region with automatic weapons for self-defence.

“I want to tell PM Modi that I am a daughter of the country, and you work for the betterment of daughters of the country. We are weaponless today also. The administration has not provided any weapons for our self-defence. We want that weapons should be provided to us,” she said.

On January 13, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Centre has handed over the case of the twin terror attacks in Rajouri on the first week of January to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Notably, seven civilians including two children were killed and many more injured in two terror attacks in Upper Dangri village in Rajouri district on January 1 and 2.
While four people were gunned down on January 1 evening, two children were killed and several others injured after a suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast occurred in the same vicinity in Rajouri’s Upper Dhangri village on January 2 morning.

Earlier on January 9, the Home Minister held a crucial meeting with top leaders of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party at his residence in the national capital.

The meeting was in the wake of the recent terror attacks in J-K.