A day after J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed triggered controversy by crediting Pakistan, Hurriyat and militants for peaceful Assembly polls in the State, his party on Monday dropped another bombshell. In a step that is unlikely to please the BJP, eight PDP legislators have demanded return of the mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Mohd Afzal Guru.
Immediately after the statement issued by the group of PDP legislators was released by the media cell of the PDP, it caused a furore here in the corridors of power. Interestingly, the statement surfaced on a day when elections to fill six seats of the legislative council were held here in the Assembly secretariat. Apparently, the motive behind issuing the statement by the PDP was to win crucial vote of Independent legislator Engineer Abdul Rasheed.
The joint statement claimed “the PDP stands by the demand for return of mortal remains of Afzal Guru, and the party promises to follow vigorously for the return of the mortal remains”. The local BJP legislators hit back and reminded the PDP that Afzal Guru was mastermind of the Parliament attack and was convicted by the apex court after following the due process of law.
“It is undemocratic to support the cause of a terrorist who masterminded an attack on the Indian Parliament,” Ravinder Raina said. Guru was secretly hanged in Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013. “The PDP has always maintained that late Afzal Guru’s hanging was travesty of justice and constitutional requirements/process was not followed in hanging him out of turn. The way he was picked up from serial No. 28 and singled out has been condemned by PDP,” the statement said.
PDP legislators also claimed that the resolution brought by Er Rashid to seek clemency for late Afzal Guru was justified and should have been adopted by the House at that time. The statement was signed by PDP legislators — Mohammad Khalil Bandh, Zahoor Ahmed Mir, Raja Manzoor Ahmad, Mohd Abas Wani, Yawar Dilawar Mir, Advocate Mohd Yosuf, Aijaz Ahmad Mir and Noor Mohd Sheikh. Earlier, the Congress had adopted a similar game plan to secure the vote of Engineer Rashid to ensure victory of Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Rajya Sabha polls on February 8. The Congress had taken U-turn on the issue and described as “mistake” the then UPA Government’s decision not to return the mortal remains of the convict and allow him a last meeting with family members.
Meanwhile, even as Mufti Mohammad Sayeed stood by his controversial statement on Monday, the Centre and the BJP “fully dissociated” themselves from his comments giving credit to Pakistan, Hurriyat and militants for the smooth conduct of polls as the Opposition in the lok Sabha lashed out at the Chief Minister, demanding a House resolution to condemn his views.
An agitated Opposition demanded a resolution to be adopted by the House condemning the statement of Sayeed at a Press conference in Jammu Sunday, soon after he took oath of office and secrecy with BJP’s MlA and deputy-Chief Minister Nirmal Singh sharing the stage with him. The uproar in zero hour saw Home Minister Rajnath Singh asserting that “the Government and his party (BJP) fully disassociate” themselves from the remarks made by Sayeed.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge wanted a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue. At this, the Home Minister said he has spoken to the Prime Minister in this regard and was making the statement with his knowledge and consent. Dissatisfied with Singh’s response, almost the entire Opposition staged a walkout.
later the Home Minister also made it clear that Sayeed had not spoken about this statement with the Prime Minister. “For the smooth conduct of polls, I congratulate the people of J&K. I credit the EC, the Army and personnel of paramilitary forces... The people have to be credited for the large voter turnout,” Singh said.
Soon after Home Minister’s statement, BJP’s Ram Madhav, who was party’s key negotiator for the alliance with the PDP, expressed his disagreement with Chief Minister’s comments. “We attribute it (smooth polls) to three factors, the people of state, security agencies and the election commission,” he said at BJP’s headquarters when asked about Sayeed’s comments. “We have great differences on many political issues. The alliance with PDP was the best available and most difficult. We had to keep interest of the State in mind and respect the mandate. This is the most representative Government J&K has ever got,” he said.
Unfazed by the uproar over his remark, Mufti Mohd Sayeed justified his comments and He also lashed out at the media for creating a ‘mountain out of a molehill’. “What I said, I stand by it,” Mufti told reporters in Jammu after casting his vote for the Council election at the legislature Complex here. Raising the issue in the lok Sabha, KC Venugopal (Cong) said, “This is a serious issue” as he quoted Sayeed as saying that he had also had a word with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.
He said Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh of the BJP was sitting next to the Chief Minister, but had given no clarification. Venugopal said militants killed six village sarpanchs and mounted suicide attacks on Army units. “This cannot be called creating a conducive atmosphere,” he said.