Kishtwar : Centre pulls up Omar

PC: No repeat of 1990 in J&K

• Appeals for restraint by political parties
• BJP questions detention of Jaitely
• Jaitely: J&K is not personal property of a family
• Farooq Abdulla recalls Godhra, says Gujarat is not Modi’s family property
• Mayawati demands President rule in J&K

Anita Saluja

New Delhi: The Centre on Monday pulled up Omar Abdullah government in Jammu & Kashmir for its failure to deal effectively to contain communal violence in Kishtwar. In its advisory to the Jammu & Kashmir government, the Home Ministry blamed the State administration for delay in action, even though the tension was prevalent in the area. It wondered why no deployment was made in the Idgah from where the Eid procession took place, though Intelligence inputs were sent to the state government.
The advisory is being seen as a forced reaction by the Congress, which is a coalition partner of the National Conference government in J&K, after the outburst of the political parties against the Omar Abdullah government. BSP supremo Mayawati demanded President’s rule in the state for the failure of law and order situation.

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram assured the members that the Centre would not allow a repeat of the incidents of 1990, when Kashmiri Pandits were forced out of their hearths and homes in the Kashmir Valley. “The Centre will not allow forced migrations and everyone will be protected in the areas they are living in,” he said. Responding to the Opposition concern over the situation in Kishtwar, in which three persons were killed, Chidambaram said all sides should show restraint, while the State Government works to restore normalcy.

When Rajya Sabha BJP deputy leader Ravi Shankar Prasad asked whether a leader of the stature of Arun Jaitley can be stopped in Jammu, pat came the response from Chidambaram, who said smiling, “Section 144 is status-neutral, gender-neutral and caste-neutral; the decision lies with the district administration.” The district administration came to the conclusion that the time was not appropriate for leader of the Opposition to visit the place. Once the situation returned to normal, the Jammu & Kashmir Government would certainly allow political leaders to visit the place and meet the people, he pointed out.

Standing in for Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who is recuperating from a surgery, Chidambaram agreed that there is a challenge of infiltration and aggression and the challenge of terrorists acting in the Valley. However, he said, it was wrong to assume that every incident had a link to terrorism or external aggression. Chidambaram insisted the proposed judicial inquiry announced by the state government should have well-defined terms of reference and the inquiry should be credible, so that the exact reasons could come out.

Raising the issue, Arun Jaitley said when the selective targeting of one community started, it was brought to the notice at the highest-level. Within minutes, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was informed. People were crying at their helplessness while the police was a mute spectator.

Jaitley declared, “The state of Jammu & Kashmir is not the personal property of one family. It is an integral part of India and you will have to decide how it will be governed.” Venting his anger at not being allowed to visit Kishtwar, Jaitley asked what if the BJP governments start preventing the Congress leaders from entering their states. “This is not a banana republic,” thundered Jaitley. He was also angry that there was delay of 6-7 hours in deploying the Army.

Union New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah said in 2002, Gujarat did not allow people to visit Ahmedabad and did not deploy the Army. Is Gujarat the family property of Narendra Modi, he asked.