Gupta criticizes statement of Union Home Minister

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 3: The former Union Minister and MLA, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta has strongly indicted the utterances of the Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram that “some initiatives on Jammu and Kashmir taken by him as Home Minister has not been taken to logical conclusion”. He said that it was an irony of fate that some of the Central Ministers who hardly know the ABC of Kashmir, try to be experts to search out the solution of the problems.
Responding to the statements of Chidambaram at a function of J&K Bank at Srinagar, Prof Gupta observed that it was a folly to appoint the highly controversial persons to be the interlocutor to search out solution of the problems as if Kashmir is not an integral part of the country which needed interlocutors. Obviously the recommendations of these “wisemen” were highly intriguing which, if given any credence, would generate more heat than any light to set things right in troubled Kashmir.
In this regard, he referred to certain recommendations of the interlocutors and said that how the problems could be sorted out by changing some nomenclature or granting any more autonomy which already had come to be a big headache for the people of this unfortunate State and more so, to the national interests as also the unity of the country.
Prof Gupta assailed the suggestion of the Union Minister for talking about lowering of the guards through his suggestion for thinning out the security forces and revoking of the AFSPA especially when the violation of ceasefire are mounting, infiltration bids are increasing. And more so, there is no let up in the designs of operators of Cross border terror coupled with other inimical acts.
He bemoaned that someone in the Opposition had rightly termed that the problem is more at New Delhi rather than in Kashmir or in Pakistan because of lack of the understanding of the genesis of the malady.