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| With love to Mufti…Advani unveils Gen Sinha’s ‘magna opus’ | | |
HAMAAD SALIF
Jammu, March 16: The much awaited book of former Jammu and Kashmir Governor, General (retd) Sinha has finally rolled out with all that one had expected. The ‘politically conscious’ book lovers had been looking towards this book for a variety of reasons and most important among them General Sinha’s documented account of his relations with his then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Mufti-Sinha relations have been the most unusual of any Chief Minister and the Governor.
In what anyone could have expected as essence of this book, General Sinha alleges that Mufti was acting as the "spokesman" of militants during his tenure and several of his cabinet colleagues were hobnobbing with separatists.
"When I was the Governor of the state, virtually there was a cold war between Raj Bhavan and the state government. The Chief Minister was acting like a spokesman of militants," Lt General (retd) Sinha said at a function for release of his book 'Guarding India's Integrity' by BJP leader L K Advani in New Delhi
Recalling his days in Kashmir Raj Bhavan, Sinha said there was lack of synergy between him and Sayeed and both of them were pursuing completely opposite policies.
The former Governor said Sayeed wanted to pursue "healing touch policy" which meant pension and compensation to the family members of terrorists killed by security forces and not for the victims of the terrorists violence.
The PDP leader wanted "joint control of Kashmir under India and Pakistan, dual currencies of India and Pakistan to run in Kashmir and complete demilitarisation of the state".
"In days we cannot see eye-to-eye. He had a communal bias and he was totally opposed to the welfare of the Kashmiri Pandits who have been living in pathetic conditions in relief camps," he said.
Sinha also alleged that several PDP leaders were hand-in-gloves with the militants and cited the example of former Minister Abdul Aziz Zargar saying his ancestral house was used by Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, who carried out suicide attacks on Akshardham temple in Gujarat.
Referring to the Amarnath land row, Sinha said he wanted to improve the basic conditions of the pilgrims of the cave shrine.
"It was a non-issue out of which a communal tornado was launched. The whole issue was communalised. The battle for Kashmiriyat may have lost during the summer madness of 2008, but the war was not. And my stand was vindicated when over 60 per cent voters in Jammu and Kashmir showed their faith in Indian democracy and cast vote in the assembly polls which was unprecedented."
Sinha wished that the electorate of India, "who have shown great maturity after the Emergency and again in 1980", would show the same maturity in the coming Lok Sabha polls and elect a strong government at the Centre.
"If someone from the dynasty paratroops and takes charge, it will be betrayal of democracy and threat to the national security," he said in an apparent dig at Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi.
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