In this photo provided by the Ministry of Defence, President Pratibha Patil, also the Supreme Commander of armed forces, lifts a weapon recovered from militants near Tangdhar in Kupwara district.
Greater Kashmir May 24, 2008
Peace activists resent Pratibha’s gun gesture
Rising Kashmir NewsSrinagar, May 25: Several retired officials interlocutors on Kashmir on Sunday strongly resented the photograph in which President Pratibha Patil was shown brandishing an AK 47 rifle.
A top Track II activist said, “The question is why the defence ministry released this picture. This has sent a wrong signal at a time when efforts are on to protect the peace process. We are taking this matter with the Prime Minister and will ask him to take action against the officer involved.”
MP questions Prez’s wisdomRising Kashmir NewsSrinagar, May 25: Meanwhile, opposition National Conference President Omar Abdullah has questioned the wisdom of President Pratibha Patil brandishing an AK-47.In his blog www.jknc.org/blog, the Member of Parliament Abdullah writes, “Yesterday my newspaper had a photograph prominent on the first page of this country’s first citizen – the President. She’s on a 5-day tour to the State and was taken to some forward posts in north Kashmir. The photograph was of President Patil brandishing an AK 47 and smiling. Somehow the two things didn’t seem to go together. I know she is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces but the photograph reminded me of a rather forgettable Sylvester Stallone movie – Stop OR My Mom Will Shoot.”Omar said that the President would have done better had she instead posed for the cameras talking to kids.“They say a picture speaks a thousand words and I did have been thrilled to see a photograph of the President talking to kids, as a grandmother would, in some far flung hamlet about the promise of a better future rather than this reminder of the one object that has caused so much death and destruction over the last 18 years,” he blogs.
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