Wednesday, Nov 13, 2002
Wednesday, Nov 13, 2002 |
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By Shujaat Bukhari
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Malik, who was released on Monday after eight months of detention, said he had been "framed" and the case fabricated under POTA. He said Mr. Jethmalani would have to answer certain questions when he came to meet the Hurriyat leaders. He said he had three meetings with Mr. Jethmalani and in the first meeting, the latter had said "independence was the solution to the Kashmir problem''. Of course, at that time the Kashmir Committee was yet to be formed. "Then, he asked us to contest the Assembly elections and, finally, he is now talking of Kashmiris proving their emotional loyalty to India." Asked why the Hurriyat was holding talks with the KC then, Mr. Malik said, "I will talk to my colleagues and share my experiences with them and will also try to know what made them talk to the committee." Later, he told The Hindu: "The Kashmir Committee was just a publicity committee and no one in Delhi was sincere or serious to talk about Kashmir." The Hurriyat chairman, Abdul Gani Bhat, who was sitting by the side of Mr. Malik did not comment. Stating that the new Government in Jammu and Kashmir would make no difference to the situation on the ground, Mr. Malik refused to accept that his release was part of a "goodwill gesture'' by the Government led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. "We were expecting the release as we had been put in jail because of the elections, which again was in contrast to the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's assertion that elections would be free, fair and transparent,'' he said. He took exception to a statement by the J&K Finance Minister, Muzaffar Baigh, that cases of the detenus against whom there were no serious charges would be reviewed. "Those who are languishing in jails have committed only one crime and that is the struggle for freedom. All those prisoners have one status that they are freedom fighters,'' he said. Mr. Malik asked why the Mufti had not refuted Mr Vajpayee's statement that the vote in Jammu and Kashmir was for integration with India. "When he (Mufti) tells militants to come out of the jungles as he and his MLAs would fight their cause in the Assembly, why has he no guts to refute Mr. Vajpayee's statement'' he asked. All the decisions would come from Delhi and Farooq Abdullah or the Mufti would make no difference. He alleged that Mr. Vajpayee "intervened" in the election of the former Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, to the Rajya Sabha and had "told the Mufti to facilitate his election in the national interest''. He questioned Mr. Vajpayee's sincerity and said that when the international community's pressure was increasing on India to talk to Pakistan, "the Government of India stage-managed the Ansal Plaza incident and killed two innocent people'', which led to the refusal by Mr. Vajpayee for talks with Pakistan. About his detention, Mr. Malik said the case against him that $1 lakh had been sent for him by the JKLF's Pakistan-based leader, Altaf Qadiri, was "concocted". "They failed to convince the judge who granted bail for me." He claimed that Mr. Qadiri had never visited Nepal as claimed by the prosecution.
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