| Goswami, Kumar set the record straight Slap on the face of opponents of VDC | | | Rustam
Jammu, Aug 17: On Friday, two important developments took place in Jammu and Kashmir suggesting that there are elements in the establishments in the state and at the centre who say what is right and what is wrong. Home Secretary to the Jammu and Kashmir Government Suresh Kumar showed the vested interests their rightful place when he said that the state Government did not have any proposal to disband the Village Defence Committees (VDCS). "There is no such proposal with the state Government to disband those," he said, adding that it was true that there is criticism of the VDCs in certain quarters". Obviously, he referred to Syed Ali Shah Geelani and ilk who consider the VDCs as "extention of the Sangh Parivar" and want the Government to disband them.
Only yesterday, Geelani shamelessly said: "There is clinching evidence about VDCs being terror wing of Sangh Parivar…We discussed the matter a month back and now the intelligence reports published in newspapers have confirmed our assertion that a particular community in Jammu province is being harassed and that it is a part of a larger conspiracy". He also called for shut down on Saturday. Geelani also criticized the role played by India's electronic and print media. "While reporting about the Kashmir they are behaving in a biased manner and act in an arrogant manner. They are not reporting objectively about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir," he also said, and added that "in fact, 90% of Indian TV and media are playing as mouthpieces of RSS and Sangh Parivar".
Not only the Home Secretary to the Jammu and Kashmir Governmernt, Inspector General of Police, Jammu Zone, Rajesh Kumar, also said that the "VDCs continued to exist and their relevance does not end in a day". "The VDCs played a crucial role in combating terrorists in remote and inaccessible areas, where security forces could not reach in time. Any move to disband those would have a backlash," police sources were also quoted as saying.
On the other hand, Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami, son of the soil, told reporters in Jammu that he didn't have any knowledge about involvement of Bajrang Dal activists in the August 9 Kishtwar incidents. "I don't have any knowledge about such a report. I have not received any such report till last evening," he said. On Thursday and Friday, some reports appeared which said that the "Union Cabinet, which met on Monday, was informed about intelligence agencies telling the Government that the Bajrang Dal, an affiliate unit of Sangh Parivar, was involved in stoking communal violence in Kishtwar town in Jammu and Kashmir". Goswami, who visited the forward posts along the international border in R S Pura, on Friday met with troops deployed on the border and reviewed the security scenario with Army officers.
Both Goswami and Kumar have set the record straight. However, to point out all this is not to suggest that there would be no demand for disbanding the VDCs and action against the Bajrang Dal. There are elements here and there who would continue to vitiate the atmosphere in the state by communalizing the institution of the VDCs and targeting the Bajrang Dal and similar other organizations. Hence, it is imperative on the part of the socio-cultural and political groups and parties to remain alert so that the ill-designed anti-India moves are defeated well in time. |
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