‘As long as any area supports initiatives for their own good, we should lend a hand’
Palhalan was once infamous as the ‘City of Hurryat G’. In fact, they ran a very highly followed Facebook page by that name in 2010. Kashmir’s largest village remained a very volatile area for long.
SSP Baramulla Rayees Mohd Bhat spoke to Gayatri Mohan about his decision to join the youth for the cricket match final, which had a positive domino effect on the village.
What inspired you to visit Palhalan on the invite of youth leader Javed Iqbal?
We had sensed that Palhallan was feeling left out of the developmental churning. While the other areas were moving ahead, Palhalan was stuck somewhere.
The people were warm and forthcoming, and their initiative brought us closer. The old aadge seemed to prove true for the village: “bad se badnaam bura”. We decided that as long as any area supports initiatives for their own good, we should also lend a hand.
Can anything can be done regarding so many youth of Palhalan facing FIRs? The feedback from the village is that the youth made mistakes when they were radicalized by a vitiated environment. Many of them realize the gravity of their error and want to move on now.
FIRs are a court matter. Any decision on that is a matter for other quarters. However we are encouraging that any who have been embroiled on fake charges are given some relief, and assistance is provided to those who have corrected and are trying to rehabilitate.
