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| Padmanabhan may be next J&K Governor | | Consenus between Azad, Mufti on former Army Chief | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Mar 6
ET Exclusive
Shortly ahead of Lt Gen (retd) SK Sinha’s five glorious years at the Raj Bhawan, the top ruling political leadership in the state is pitching for the former Army Chief as next Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
Highly placed sources told EARLY TIMES that the top political leadership including the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Peoples Democratic Party leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed have send feelers to New Delhi favouring former Army Chief General Sunderrajan Padmanabhan as next Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. The incumbent J&K Governor Gen SK Sinha completed his five years term on June 4.
While former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is an old fan of Padmanabhan, is has come as surprise that the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad too has narrowed down his choice on the former Army Chief. Azad, it may be mentioned here, enjoyed an exceptionally warm chemistry with Gen Sinha while Mufti and Governor have always been at loggerheads with each other.
Ever since the eruption of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, Gen Padmanabhan was the first serving Army Commander who had said that government should push for a political dialogue and military was no solution to the Kashmir issue. Mufti was quick enough to pick the catchword and embark on a massive campaign saying “Goli Se Nahin, Baat Banegi Boli Se” (not by bullets, things can be resolved by dialogue). In his speeches, he would always quote the Army Chief and those days Gen Padmanabhan became a home name in the state wherever Mufti campaigned between 1999 and 2002.
Sources say that Azad and Mufti have also send out feelers to General Padmanabhan, who retired to Chennai immediately on stepping down as army chief a few years ago, to take over as the next governor. There is no confirmation if Padmanabhan has agreed to take over from Lt General SK Sinha.
Mufti, Azad and some other key interlocutors believe that a former army officer would be the best go-between the civilian administration and the army. This push comes amidst a tectonic shift in the stand of the Pakistan Peoples Party, whose co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said Kashmir dispute must be set aside to focus on improving other aspects of the bilateral relations.
Meanwhile, official records show significant drop in violence in Kashmir in 2007, even as several key Kashmir players have launched a quiet campaign to get a former army chief as the next governor as part of their push to seek permanent peace in Kashmir.
Now since the Pakistan elections are over, among those who are pushing for an aggressive pursuit of Kashmir solution are both J&K chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and his partner Mufti Mohammed Sayeed of the PDP. In fact, Sayeed met the prime minister and cautioned him, “We should not mislead ourselves about brushing the issue under the carpet as was done on earlier occasions.”
Earlier this wee, the defence minister AK Antony placed before parliament data on Kashmir violence, which show a significant drop in 2007. According to these figures, the number of terrorists killed in J&K dropped to 472 in 2007. In 2006, it was 591 and in 2005 it was 917. Number of civilians killed too dropped in 2007 to 158, as against 389 in 2006. In 2005, number of civilians killed was as high as 557. Antony also said that there was no increase in incidents of infiltration and terrorism in J&K, showing a comprehensive improvement in 2007. |
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