Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police are all set to pamper the stone-throwers.
The state police are actually devising a new policy to help misguided youth shun pelting stones and lead a normal life. The reform policy includes providing small shops to the youth and taking them on study tours.
DNA has accessed a letter written by director general of police (DGP) Kuldeep Khoda to inspector general of police (Kashmir) Farooq Ahmad on January 25, asking him to identify stone-throwing dens in Srinagar, Anantnag and Baramulla so that unemployed youth of those areas could be provided kokas (small shops) to earn a living.
“A proposal for constructing kokas could be considered… deputy inspector generals and all district superintendents of police can be advised to prepare a blueprint of action… you may consider Baramulla and Anantnag towns and the old areas of Srinagar such as Boatman Colony, Bemina, Nowhatta and Dalgate that have been witnessing stone pelting by unemployed youth,” the DGP said in his letter.
What added zing to the reform process was an educational tour proposal for the misguided youth.
“The tour would be from Kashmir to Ajmer and each group from the respective district would be guided by a deputy superintendent of police. Each district may select 20 to 25 persons for the programme,” read the letter.
The Ajmer tour programme was originally scheduled for the third week of February but has been postponed, sources said.
The police’s two-pronged proposal comes at a time when the J&K government is considering altering the ground zero of stone pelting by de-congesting the old areas of Srinagar.
The Omar Abdullah government is planning to relocate shanty-dwellers from the congested by-lanes to new homes on the outskirts of the J&K capital.
