[Reader-list] PDP works hand in glove with terrorists: Ex-governor

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

*PDP works hand in glove with terrorists: Ex-governor*

July 03, 2008 16:54 IST

Lt Gen (retd) S K Sinha, till recently Governor of Jammu and Kashmir
[Images], on Thursday launched a frontal attack on the state's main
political parties, especially PDP and its patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed,
accusing him of being "hand in glove" with separatists and fundamentalists.

At the centre of controversy over the land for Amarnath yatra which
paralysed the valley in recent days, Sinha denounced PDP as "anti-national".

Sinha, who laid down office eight days ago, minced no words in admitting
that his relation with Sayeed, who was the state's Chief Minister between
2002 to 2005, had been "very bad from the very beginning".

Disclosing that he was writing a book throwing light on his eventful tenure,
Sinha said that Sayeed played the "most sinister role in reviving
communalism in the valley" using the ploy of transfer of 100 acres of land
in the valley which was

to be used to provide facility for Amarnath pilgrims.

Two of the PDP ministers in the cabinet -- Qazi Afzal (forest) and Muzzafar
Hussain Beigh (law) -- were involved in the decision to direct this forest
land at Baltal but Sayeed had used the issue to "promote his agenda", he
said.

"He (Sayeed) wanted to take electoral advantage of the developing situation
but I think it has rebounded on him. The people have found out the duplicity
of his party," he said.

 82-year-old Sinha, who earlier had an equally controversial term as
Governor in Assam before coming to Jammu and Kashmir, also did not spare the
Centre and charged the Congress high command with undermining its own party
Chief Minister Ghulam [Images] Nabi Azad.

"The PDP has performed a very anti-national role in Kashmir and the pity is
that PDP, for all these years, has been enjoying patronage of Delhi to the
extent that Congress High Command has even undermined the position of its
own party's Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad," the former Governor said.

Sinha said that he had been informing the Centre about the activities of
Sayeed from time to time but the "Centre goes ahead by keeping it with the
government for long."

He denied that he had put any pressure on the state government for the
transfer of land and said that the proposal was lying with it for last three
years.

This was a propoganda that had been circulated by the anti-national and
secessionists and as well as PDP.

"On the one hand sanctioning the diversion of forest land at Baltal through
its two minister" and on the other they flare up the communal tensions, he
said.

"They (PDP) were trying to hunt with the hound and run with the hare. Their
duplicity stands exposed and their effigies have been burnt in the streets
of Srinagar [Images] by Kashmir mobs," he said.

Sinha regretted the revocation of the order and termed it a "policy of
appeasement and total surrender" followed by the state government and done
with "total lack of grace".

"What was worse, to appease the fundamentalists...they (state) have
virtually wound up the Amarnath Shrine Board," he said, adding this move has
had very serious reactions in Jammu and elsewhere in the country.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/03land.htm