J&K Government has reviewed security to all Hurriyat leaders in view of recent militant threats to them following Mirwaiz Umer Farooq’s call for an end to the armed struggle in Kashmir. All senior leaders of the conglomerate have been offered an urgent security upgrade to ward off what is apprehended as a likely attack to scare them away from the peace process. “Yes, we have reviewed their protection. They have been urged to take the security upgrades,” J&K Additional Director General of Police (CID) Kuldip Khoda told The Indian Express. Khoda said though all senior Hurriyat leaders were given adequate protection, there’s now a move to enhance it further. “This time we have offered security even to some middle rung leaders.” However, there has been no review of Mirwaiz’s security who already enjoys Z category protection. The grenade attack at his residence days before his departure for Pakistan has rattled the J&K’s security establishment and they don’t want to take any further chances, more so after Mirwaiz’s radical statement in Pakistan about the outlived utility of militancy. Efforts are on to plug all security loopholes, particularly in case of vulnerable leaders like former Hurriyat Chairman Moulana Abbas Ansari, who lives in downtown Srinagar, traditionally a hub of the militant activity. Ansari already has a bullet proof car, an escort and several Personal Security Officers.
