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| India-Pakistan |
| Kashmir has been Talibanised |
| 2008-08-25 |
| INTERVIEW with LT GEN. (RETD) S.K. SINHA, FORMER GOVERNOR, JAMMU & KASHMIR By Kallol Bhattacherjee As Governor of Jammu and Kashmir from June 2003 to May 2008, Lt Gen. (retd) S.K. Sinha aimed at industrial development, winning of hearts and greater openness. It was during his term that Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board was allotted land for putting up temperory shelters for pilgrims. Excerpts from an interview: - Why did you increase the Amarnath yatra's duration? In 2003, the pilgrimage lasted a month. The year 2004 had what on Hindu calendar is known as a mall mass. That means it had two Shravans. Therefore, it was natural to extend the pilgrimage as the yatra usually takes place in Shravan. But a large number of pilgrims had been coming to Amarnath every year and it was more useful for the administration to stretch the period to administer the flow of pilgrims better. The Nitish Sengupta committee (1996) and Lt Gen. J.R. Mukherjee committee (2000) had suggested increased duration for the yatra. - Did your principal secretary behave arrogantly to the local leaders of Jammu? He did not. He was completely misinterpreted and the local Kashmiri press put words in his mouth. There is a taped version of his press conference in which he is supposed to have suggested that the land for Amarnath shrine would have permanent structures. He did not say that and the cabinet in Jammu and Kashmir was presented a copy of that tape. - Karan Singh wants the removal of N.N. Vohra as Governor. Do you support him? Vohra is a friend but the truth is all these problems started in his tenure, and it was he who rescinded the land transfer. After all it was not an exceptional land transfer. Many people have acquired forestland in Kashmir. Even Reliance has acquired land for building communication network. But Kashmiri separatist leaders feel that religious Hindus cannot get land in Kashmir for religious purpose. All over the country, Hajj complexes are coming up but why not have a facility to make the pilgrims comfortable at Amarnath? - Are Kashmiri Muslims completely radicalised now? There is an environment of religious intolerance in Kashmir. There was ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits from the state but no one talks of them. Kashmir has been Talibanised by the separatists. The secular lobby never condemns the communal politics of Syed Ali Shah Geelani. = Would inviting the Hurriyat to Delhi for talks help the situation? There are supposed to be two groups in the Hurriyat; the so-called moderates and the so-called extremists. In effect they are all communal and anti-national. They have nothing against foreign tourists coming to the valley but they are allergic to Hindu Indians visiting the valley. - Would the PDP grow mellow? Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of the PDP is an anti-national and a communal man. Even before he became chief minister, he had a dubious reputation. He did not do anything when Hindu temples were vandalised in Kashmir in the late 1980s. Even his daughter's kidnapping was not exactly a real kidnapping. - Was Rubaiya Sayeed not kidnapped by the militants? Many believe that it was a stage-managed affair and not an authentic kidnapping by militants. - But it was the PDP that cleared the land for Amarnath pilgrims. Did they suddenly go secular before the issue blew up? The PDP is a separatist and anti-national organisation and it will play dubious politics always. It is Mufti who carried out the healing touch policy in Kashmir. As a result, India has emerged as the only country that gives pensions to the family of slain militants. Mufti also talked of putting Baglihar power project under the joint control of India and Pakistan, which is simply not acceptable to us. - How do you rate Mehbooba Mufti, who opposes security operations yet celebrates August 15? She, like her father, is communal and anti-national, and plays opportunistic politics. - Do you think the Nehruvian approach to Kashmir dispute has crumbled? Nehru was a great man but he had many failures. Thrice we were in a position to capture Muzaffarabad but each time Nehru asked us to withdraw.... Nehru's interventions in military and political affairs were failures. - Do you support a greater say for the armed forces in public life? I do not want the armed forces to be involved in politics. But I want the excess bureaucratic control to end. The bureaucratic control had ensured that even our only Field Marshal, Sam Manekshaw, did not get the full pay due between 1973 and 2007, when he was counting his last days. Last year, a bureaucrat went to Sam with a cheque for Rs 1 crore in his hospital. When I met Sam, he said, "A babu from Delhi had come and he delivered a cheque for a crore. But I do not know if the cheque would be honoured." These are extremes of bureaucratic control and they should end for the welfare of this country. |
| Posted by:john frum |