Once again the House witnessed amusing and multi-cornered row among the elected representatives of people who are supposed to hammer out issues and frame policies leading to the amelioration of the lot of toiling masses of the State. Accusations and counter accusations, abuses and counter abuses, insinuations and counter insinuations, all make the observers in the gallery laugh in their sleeves on the war of the pigmies. It is here that political theorists have said that by and large people get the Government they deserve. Imagine the Speaker, whose appeals fell on flat ears of the warring members, had to sit in utter disgust to see what the flock was up to. He had even to go to the length of telling one vociferous member to “learn parliamentary proceedings.” “There are 89 members in the House. You alone create uproar on every issue as if you have been the custodian of everything”, the Speaker remarked.
Current ruckus was started by the PDP who repeated the allegation of embezzlement of funds of J&K Cricket Association, a matter that had been earlier notified in the House but was shelved on the plea that allegations were brought against a person who was not a member of the House and would not be able to defend himself. The vigor with which the ruling NC members including its three ministers rose in unison to harangue the House for quite some time clearly showed that their vehement protestation essentially carried the element of personal cult rather than the interests of the state and its people. The demand for expunging the previous day’s remarks of the PDP proved that the NC members were determined to let personality cult supervene the defence of their party president.
After the pandemonium was over the Speaker declared to the satisfaction of NC members that remarks about Dr. Farooq Abdullah would be expunged from the records as he was not a member of the House and unable to defend himself. That certainly is the rule and good that the Speaker took strength from it to silence the opposition. But the fact remains that the alleged scam pertains to the state exchequer and charges of misappropriation have to be answered to the satisfaction of the people of the State. The Parliament has been debating the issue of billions of Indian money stashed in foreign banks by Indian citizens. It has a right to do so. Likewise the money belonging to the State is being discussed and as such those involved will have to answer whether you mention their name or not. What does it mean to raise a hue and cry in the House only to silence the allegations of scam running into crores of rupees in JKCA? The Chief Minister has repeatedly committed his government to stamping out corruption from the administration. Attempts of forestalling an enquiry into the alleged scam is a perilous exercise which NC loyalists of Dr. Farooq Abdullah should be aware of. One can understand the embarrassment of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Recent UP election results should be an eye-opener for everybody including our legislators. The era of personality cult has come to an end undoubtedly it has been a bane of State politics. The House cannot be held hostage to the political agenda of one or the other party. It is not a place where personal grievances are to be squared up; it is not a place for giving furious vent to personal vendetta. People have sent their representatives to the House to discuss their economic and other issues that have huge bearing on their day to day life. Ordinary people are reeling under skyrocketing prices of daily consumption. But our legislators are busy coining new phrases and terminology of abuse and disgrace to pull down their rivals.
PDP has certain concrete and serious questions to ask in the context of alleged scam in JKCA. The ruling party should answer these questions with the help of evidence it claims it has in hand. Only that will convince the people and not the hullabaloo in the House. What was the need of opening account in two more branches of J&K Bank and transferring money to them when there was already a bank account of the organization? Why were not the account sheets of the JKCA carrying the entries of these two branches? Why was an FIR registered with the police? Why was the same person chosen as General Secretary for three consecutive terms for the JKCA? The NC needs to come clear of doubts which these questions raise.
NIA files charge sheet
National Investigation Agency, country’s super investigation organization, has filed a 1061- page charge sheet against Wasim Malik of Kishtwar and others involved in the terrorist attack on Delhi High Court premises last year. The charge-sheet reveals that the persons involved in the criminal act had the objective of intimidating the court in the case of Afzal Guru against whom death sentence has been pronounced and is waiting execution after the disposal of his case. Wasim and his brother have been instrumental in hatching the conspiracy and they had got into touch with two Pakistani terrorists who managed to blast the bomb at Gate No. 5 of the Delhi High Court. Now the case is before the Delhi Court for disposal. The story of this big conspiracy revealed by the NIA after interrogating nearly 200 witnesses and also after securing some electronic record leaves no doubt about the involvement of the persons charged with conspiracy. The law should take its normal course but we have seen that owing to political pressures, most of the culprits in such cases go scot free. The fate of Wasim Malik’s case could be nothing different. At the end of the day one just asks a question. If the accused against whom serious criminal charges are proved is to wriggle out of the stranglehold of justice, why then all the exercise of stage managing an enquiry and investigation is undertaken? Let the law of the land prevail in letter and in spirit.
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