A day after a youth was killed by suspected militants in north Kashmir's Sopore area, chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday took potshots at protesters in the valley for "selective outrage".
"Militants chase an 18-year-old boy into a mosque and shoot him. Imagine the outrage if this had been done by security forces. #hypocrisy (sic)," wrote Abdullah on micro-blogging site Twitter, referring to the Tuesday night's killing of the youth.
"Want to see the hypocrisy of selective outrage? Compare reactions on my TL (timeline) today to those exactly a week ago," he added.
In an oblique reference to opposition Peoples Democratic Party, the chief minister said, "Had this incident taken place at the hands of security forces, these members would have pulled the mikes, broken the tables and created hue and cry in the Assembly."
Around 9:45pm on Tuesday, Suhail Ahmad Sofi, a resident of Doabgah village in Sopore, 55km north of Srinagar, was killed by militants inside a mosque.
"Sofi was sitting with another youth in the ground near a local mosque when he was fired upon by some unknown militants. He, however, ran towards the mosque and hid himself there," said Sopore superintendent of police Imtiyaz Hussain.
{{/usCountry}}"Sofi was sitting with another youth in the ground near a local mosque when he was fired upon by some unknown militants. He, however, ran towards the mosque and hid himself there," said Sopore superintendent of police Imtiyaz Hussain.
{{/usCountry}}The police officer said one militant chased Sofi and entered the mosque and pumped five bullets into him.
Though no militant outfit has taken any responsibility, preliminary police investigation points fingers at the Lashkar-e-Toiba militants.
There was a religious congregation in the mosque when the militant pointed the gun at Sofi, who was a higher secondary student. "He was innocent, very young," said Sofi's mother, wailing uncontrollably.
Sources said Sofi might be targeted for being a "police informer".
A shock wave gripped the entire village after the killing. Sofi was buried in the morning with a couple of hundred mourners participating in the funeral.
Responding to the CM's remark, moderate Hurriyat spokesman Shahid-ul-Islam said, "The Hurriyat stand since its inception has been to condemn any innocent civilian's killing, irrespective of the fact who are the perpetrators. Sopore youth's killing is condemnable act too. Any form of violence on civilian population should be criticised," said Islam, a close aide of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.