Author: Express news service
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: February 2, 2010
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/former-militant-is-a-padma-shri-2010/574391/
This year's list of Padma awardees includes
a surrendered Kashmiri militant and counter-insurgent against whom cases of
extortion and attempted murder are pending. The man, Ghulam Mohammed Mir,
has been honoured with a Padma Shri for public service. He runs a band-saw
business in his native Magam in central Kashmir's Budgam district, and is
widely known by the nickname Muma Kana.
The Jammu and Kashmir government took several
days to trace the awardee. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said he did not think
that his government had recommended Mir for the Padma.
"I don't remember recommending his name,"
Omar told The Indian Express. "At times, there are individual recommendations
or the Government of India checks the credentials of a prospective awardee
directly. I will check tomorrow," the Chief Minister said.
Mir has been a known counter-insurgent who
ran an illegal private militia in central Kashmir after surrendering before
the security forces. Sources in the police said he was considered a major
asset for the security establishment during the peak years of militancy, alongside
counter-insurgents like Kuka Parray, Javaid Shah and Naba Azad.
