NEW DELHI, May 20: J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said he was eagerly waiting for the final report of National Investigating Agency (NIA) which is probing role of surrendered Kashmiri militant Liyaqat Shah for allegedly planning a terror attack here.
“It is heartening for us that his (Liyaqat) bail application has been accepted and he is able to go back home. It indicates to us that the stand taken by J&K police and J&K Government is the correct one.
“That having been said, I don’t know what would be NIA’s final findings will be. Should their final findings be on the same line then yes, we would have a lot more to say to Delhi Police,” Omar told Foreign Correspondents’ Club during an interaction here.
Liyaqat was booked by Delhi Police for allegedly being a part of a suicide squad tasked to carry out attacks in the national capital during Holi. However, J&K police contested their claim saying Liyaqat was returning from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir via Nepal as part of the State Government’s surrender policy.
NIA will complete the inquiry and may give a clean chit Liyaqat deserves, Omar said.
Lashing out at the State’s political parties, Omar said when his Government signed on a document supporting NIA for carrying out the probe, “my political opposition claimed we were creating a brand new terror force or it’s going to be sort of special operation group which will terrorise Kashmiris.”
However, the facts speak for themselves and it has been proved beyond doubt that it (NIA) is an organisation which believes in transparent inquires.
The Chief Minister refrained from saying more on Liyaqat as that may threaten his life. “Let NIA finish its probe, I may have a lot to say to Delhi Police then,” he added.
Omar said J&K police were taking measures to clamp down on false information given by informers there.
“There is an army of informers. An informer is available to more than two forces. We had unfortunate situations where we had fake encounters taking place on the basis of bad informations. There has been an attempt to clamp down on these activities and cross check the information given by them. There are vested interests for giving information too,” the Chief Minister said.
Omar said the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was not handled properly.
“I hope it (execution) was not deliberately done and I would like to believe in that way. There have been aspects of hanging which have clearly been badly handled, particularly the way his family was informed.
“I mean in this age if a letter is sent by Speed Post, which takes at least four days to reach there, then there is something seriously wrong with the way the things have been done,” he said.
Omar said there has been a lot of concerns among the people of J&K with regards to his execution.
“The fact that how somebody went from number 28 to 1 (in the list of people to be considered for decision on his mercy plea by the President) and why it was said that he has exhausted all legal options and then was hanged.
“Whereas, Veerappan gang members got stay on their execution in spite of the fact that the President had rejected their mercy petitions,” he said.
Omar also charged the Centre with its selective approach in implementation of its policy in J-K.
“My point is with government of India is that you cannot be selective with the policies on J&K. You turn around and tell me that revocation of AFSPA is a risk. We can have implications of the situation on the ground.
“But when I told you that hanging Afzal Guru is a risk and you don’t know how the situation will play out and if you don’t know how the situation on ground comes out, it is a risk you are willing to take. Why in J&K you are selective, what risk to take or not?” he said.
Omar said the Centre gets complacent about Jammu and Kashmir when there is not any major problem to deal with there.
“In spite of Afzal Guru’s execution, we managed the situation there. We have been doing well. While I would like to give a lion share of the credit to the Centre, I think the credit also goes to people. Without their cooperation, it would not have been possible. The normalcy has gone up astronomically,” he said.
Omar also asked the Centre to follow recommendations contained in a report of interlocutors on J&K.
He said the Government of India goes through one crisis to another. “They have their own problems at the moment one pretty soon after another. Hopefully within this environment, they will not find time on this interlocutors’ process.
“But call an all-party meeting, if you have to. Start taking that process forward. Otherwise, next time if we have a problem in Kashmir, it would be very difficult to find people in Kashmir to talk to,” Omar said. (AGENCIES)
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