Srinagar: As controversy surrounding the release of separatist leader Masrat Alam swirls, an independent legislator in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday said he will seek the release of all political prisoners as well as the remains of Afzal Guru, who was convicted of an attack on parliament, in the upcoming assembly session.
“Why is the Indian government feeling so insecure over one man’s release? Why [has] Alam’s release been an issue as if it was an undue favour from the government?” legislator Langate Engineer Abdul Rashid asked at a media conference here.
He proceeded to blame the media for creating “unnecessary” hype around the separatist’s release.
“In [Kashmir] Valley, the BJP-led government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre is seen as champion of Hindutva and yet his [Modi’s] patriotic credentials were put to question in parliament,” he said. “Wasn’t it the Bharatiya Janata Party that talked to Hurriyat and other separatist leaders and even with Hizbul Mujahideen militants during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure?”
The lawmaker said the uproar in parliament over Alam’s release shows India has nothing to offer to the Kashmiris.
“Even seeking the mortal remains of a dead person is termed as terrorism. The government of India is pushing Kashmiris [up against] the wall. How do you [central government] expect Hurriyat Conference leaders to come forward for talks in such a scenario?” he said.
Meanwhile, Alam’s release did not figure in the first cabinet meeting of the PDP-BJP coalition Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday, despite the BJP saying earlier that it planned to raise the issue in the meeting.
The cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Mufti Mohmmad Sayeed, discussed only the governor’s address to the joint session of the legislature.
“Only [the] governor’s address was discussed in the cabinet meeting. It passed in [a] conducive and peaceful atmosphere,” a senior officer in the Chief Minister’s Office said.
“The Masarat issue or the release of the political prisoners was not discussed at all in the meeting,” BJP Minister in the government Chander Prakash Ganga told PTI.
“We only wanted more issues to the included in the Governor’s address. In the next meeting, after the inclusion of some more items, it will be passed by cabinet,” he said.
