The Government on Thursday informed both the Houses of Parliament that the Jammu & Kashmir Government has said that it is keeping a watch on separatist leader Masarat Alam and action will be taken against him if anything adverse comes to its notice.
Giving a suo moto statement in the lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh also said the Centre has advised the State Government to pursue all the 27 criminal cases against Alam “vigorously” and challenge the orders granting him bail.
The Home Minister’s detailed statement after receiving all the facts from the State Government came after Parliament on Monday raised a din over Alam’s release. Terming it as a “matter concerning national security,” the Opposition had charged the BJP with practicing politics of opportunism to share power in Jammu & Kashmir by forging an alliance with the PDP.
In this backdrop, Singh said he had given a statement on Monday and was giving more details to Parliament now after receiving the factual position from the State Government. The State Government has informed that a proper system is in place to have an effective surveillance of Alam’s activities, he said. “As and when anything adverse surfaces, appropriate action as envisaged by law will be taken,” he added.
The State Government was advised to maintain law and order to keep the peace in areas likely to be visited by Alam and other separatist elements and “a close surveillance must be ensured on such activities of Alam, his associates and followers, which are detrimental to the public order or the unity and integrity of the country in general and the State of Jammu & Kashmir in particular,” the Minister said.
As regards sequence of events leading to Alam’s release, Singh said the State Government said there were “no fresh grounds for his detention as verified by the District Magistrate Jammu.” The grounds, based on which earlier detention orders were quashed by the High Court and this detention order contained the same old grounds of detention, he said quoting the State Government’s report.
When Naresh Agarwal (SP) asked in the Rajya Sabha about steps taken to challenge the bail granted to Alam, Singh remarked that his statement clearly said that all the 27 criminal cases should be pursued.
In the lok Sabha, Jyotiraditya Scindia (Congress) said he was not satisfied by the statement as it did not address points raised by him on Tuesday. Scindia said when the decision to release Alam was taken, the State was under Governor’s Rule and thus responsibility for it lay with the Centre as well.
Singh reiterated that Alam could have been detained only under fresh grounds, inviting protests from Scindia and other Congress members who said he was being repeatedly detained on some ground or the other.
Meanwhile, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav met Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in Jammu and called for a better coordination between the alliance partners.
“Madhav met the Chief Minister late on Wednesday night and discussed various issues,” BJP chief spokesman Sunil Sethi said on Thursday. The meeting took place after the Cabinet meet of the PDP-BJP coalition Government, in which the release of the separatist leader did not come up for discussion.
Madhav’s meeting with Mufti assumes significance in view of the differences created between BJP and PDP over Alam’s unilateral release. He was sent as an emissary by BJP president Amit Shah to Mufti to ensure that the BJP is taken on-board before the State Government takes any decision on contiguous issues and those relating to national security and also the Government should work as per the Common Minimum Programme, sources said. Madhav is also reported to have expressed the party’s displeasure to Mufti over Alam’s release, they said.