Jammu and Kashmir Padma awardee cries threat to life

Counter-insurgent Ghulam Mohammad Mir said on Wednesday he was facing a threat to his life because of the Padma Shri bestowed on him.

“There’s a conspiracy. Pro-Pakistan and anti-national forces are after my life. I openly say I am Indian and I will die Indian. That is not going down well with the enemies of the nation,” he said.

Mir, 60, of Magam in the central Kashmir district of Budgam, said he was not satisfied with his security. “CRPF is protecting me, but that’s not enough. I request the president, prime minister and the UPA chairperson to increase my security.”

Mir also rebutted claims that he was a militant before becoming a counter-insurgent. “If it is proved that I was a militant, hang me in full public view,” he said.

Mir boasts of having helped security forces in apprehending or neutralising more than 5,000 militants.“I have documents and photographs to prove that,” he said.