NC makes frontal attack on Jethmalani, Arundhati, Navlakha, Madhu Kishwar

‘They are agents of turbulence, not comfortable with peaceful summer in Kashmir’

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jun 7: Taking strong exception to Ram Jethmanali’s remarks on Omar Abdullah’s coalition government, National Conference (NC) today called for ban on entry of people like the BJP maverick who, according to it, had the agenda of misleading people and thus derailing the peace process in Jammu & Kashmir. It called Madhu Kishwar, a member of Jethmalani’s four-member committee, a “political mercenary” and alleged that the BJP leader, alongwith writer-activist, Arundhati Roy, were not comfortable with the current spell of peace in the Valley.

“People like Ram Jethmalani, Arundhati Roy and Gautam Navlakha, at the behest of political mercenaries like Madhu Kishwar and the likes, visit Kashmir to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the state and then return to their comfortable homes in Delhi and Bombay to be seen occasionally on Television screens discussing Kashmir with the sole aim of stoking the violence and disturbance in the state much to the detriment of the people of the state and their welfare”, spokesman of the ruling party said in an unusual press release,

At the end of their maiden visit to Valley, that continued for five days, members of once BJP-supported Kashmir Committee had equated Omar Abdullah’s government with the Nazi regime in Germany and alleged that there was no rule of law in the “Police State”. Jethmalani observed at the news conference that bureaucratic arrogance, corruption, nepotism, favouritism and total absence of accountability in the executive had become the dubious distinctions of the NC-Congress ruling coalition.

“Government should not allow people like Ram Jethmalani to enter the state during the summers because they do not want a solution to the Kashmir issue instead they come here to misguide the people, hoodwink them and derail the process of peace in Jammu & Kashmir”, said the statement from NC.

The spokesman added that Ram Jethmalani was probably “out of his mind” to suggest that Nazi rule was prevalent in J&K. He said a state where eighty percent of the electorate participated in the Panchayat elections after nearly three decades to establish a democratic system at the grass root level could, by no stretch of imagination, be termed as the one under Nazi rule. He emphasized that current spell of peace, coupled with Panchayat elections of massive participation, should have been appreciated as a great leap forward in strengthening the democratic institutions in the state and bringing accountability and transparency besides improving the delivery mechanism.

The spokesman asked Jethmalani to first convince his own party, BJP, to support reduction of troops in civilian areas as also to raise the demand for withdrawal of AFSPA before seeking to convince others on such security-related measures. Jethmalani had, inter alia, demanded total revocation of “draconian laws” like AFSPA and PSA besides release of political prisoners in J&K.

The spokesman said Omar Abdullah and his government did not need any certificate from “disgruntled, frustrated and politically rejected people like Ram Jethmalani---a man who has failed to even win the Supreme Court Bar Association elections”.  He asserted that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was striving hard to win the hearts and minds of the people with his untiring efforts and he deserved full support of all right thinking people.

Early Times learned from authoritative sources that Omar Abdullah’s government has, of late, decided to take “tough action” against certain individuals of the Indian civil society, like Arundhati Roy, who, according to it, had been mobilizing the “agents of mayhem and disturbance” with reference to Kashmir. For the first time in 21 years of political turmoil, pro-Azadi activist Gautam Navlakah was prevented from entering Srinagar and deported to New Delhi last week.

While the state government is viewing people like Arundhati Roy and Gautam Navlakah as stanch supporters of J&K’s secession from India, it is treating people like Jethmalani and Madhu Kishwar as advocates of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his PDP. Owing to this impression, Omar and others in his party and government decided not to grant any interview to Jethmalani and others of his panel. Members of the committee were, on the other hand, gladly received by both factions of the separatist Hurriyat Conference and the mainstream opposition party, PDP.

Government sources, meanwhile, disclosed to this newspaper that Police had been directed to lodge an FIR against a Kashmiri woman broadcaster, having worked for the BBC for over 20 years, for spreading “misleading SMS” over yesterday’s killing of a civilian near Press Enclave. Sender of the SMS has claimed in text that Police had gunned down the civilian from Sopore.

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