Claiming that the Army since Independence has been giving money to Ministers in Jammu & Kashmir with the full knowledge of the Government, former Army chief VK Singh said here on Tuesday that the fund was provided to create goodwill and ensure stability. “It cannot be construed as bribe,” he said.
He also termed as treason the leakage of an internal Army enquiry report about the functioning of Technical Support Division (TSD) of Military Intelligence and said Intelligence operations cannot be brought into public domain.
Singh’s claim in a television interview on Monday that the Army had been paying money to Ministers in Jammu & Kashmir since Independence, led to a political furore with Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde asking the General to name the Ministers who received the money and promised to investigate. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah demanded a CBI probe.
Setting the record straight while sticking to his claim, Singh said: “I did not commit any mistake. When I had said that some politicians were given money, it was not meant for their personal purpose or political purpose. It was not for lining their pockets or for bribe. If somebody says that any Minister was given a bribe, it is totally wrong. The payment was meant solely for stability. To win hearts and minds of people; to wean people away from separatist activities under the overall umbrella of sadbhavna (harmony).”
Singh was addressing a Press conference for the first time since last Friday when a media report claimed that an Army probe revealed that Singh allegedly misused secret funds by paying money to a Minister in Kashmir to destabilise the Omar Abdullah Government in 2010.
Singh said money was paid to Ministers for stability in many areas and it was not limited to Jammu & Kashmir.
As regards allegations that he also misused TSD for unauthorised operations, Singh said ‘leakage’ of the enquiry report on the functioning of the unit amounted to treason. He also rejected the contention that the Intelligence unit was his ‘private army.’
Singh claimed that the report was ‘leaked’ and a controversy was sought to be created in order to cover up certain ‘burning issues.’ He said “after the report surfaced, a number of burning issues were pushed to the background. Was this not a reason behind leaking the report...All this was done deliberately to create a smokescreen and divert the attention of the people.”
He also said “if we discuss the functioning of the Intelligence agencies in public, then it is treason.... It should be probed how this report was being leaked and action should be taken against persons who have attempted to make such a leak. This is treason."
Singh said such activities cannot be carried out in uniform, therefore Intelligence units carry out such tasks. On the allegation of misusing TSD, he said "some people who say that the unit was my private army should discard such ideas. This unit was functioning under the DG, Military Intelligence. I was not there to micromanage things. I commanded 12 lakh men."
He also claimed that had the unit not been disbanded the recent incidents along the borders would not have taken place. "This is my claim." Meanwhile, Shinde asked Singh to name Jammu and Kashmir politicians who were allegedly paid money for "stability," saying if details are given the Government was ready to probe.
Shinde told reporters that he has not received any communication from the Jammu and Kashmir Government or anyone else demanding a CBI enquiry into Singh's statement on Army payments.
Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad expressed shock over Singh's statement. He said: "I think it's a very, very terrible statement that he has made. It must be investigated. The Army has nothing to do with funding of political parties. They should never do this. The Army should be kept apolitical. And if he has done that, he has done something extremely wrong."
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said the issue is not about an individual but about the weakening of an institution. "That the Government is doing all this (targeting Singh) is wrong as these are matters or national security," she said.