Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 12: The job of Dileep Padgaonkar led team of Jammu and Kashmir interlocutors was over and complete after the submission of their controversial report in May last year and now they are trying to revive their relevance by seeking political cum intellectual mileage in the aftermath of hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
This was alleged by BJP chief spokesperson, Dr. Jitendra Singh while reacting to what he described as unwarranted observations made by Dileep Padgaonkar on the hanging of Afzal Guru. He said that the credentials of the UPA appointed interlocutors were suspect right from day one and the report submitted by them has also been rubbished by one and all as a self-righteous, irrational and partisan document. But it is because of the long rope given by the Congress led UPA Government that these interlocutors, are trying to seize the opportunity to fish in troubled waters by supporting the views of Chief Minister on Afzal Guru, he added.
Dr. Jitendra Singh pointed out that politically motivated questions raised by Chief Minister have been adequately refuted by all the major political parties while the Chief Minister’s father & Union Minister Farooq Abdullah has also chosen to distance himself from what his son is saying. He said in such a situation, instead of suggesting the path of reason and national interest to J&K Chief Minister, Dileep Padgoankar has betrayed intellectual bias by saying that the Centre (Govt. of India) cannot “duck” the questions raised by Omar Abdullah.
Dr. Jitendra Singh wondered whether the interlocutors team was constituted to apply balm to the wounds of two decades of terrorism experienced by Jammu & Kashmir or whether the interlocutors too have a political agenda of their own. He reminded Padgaonkar that an overwhelming opinion in Jammu & Kashmir, which includes Jammu and Ladakh, has supported the hanging of Afzal Guru without raising any “ifs” and “buts” over the procedure followed.
Commenting on Dileep Padgaonkar’s suggestion that Government should reach out to all stake-holders in J&K, Dr. Jitendra Singh reminded the interlocutors that the point conveniently overlooked by them is that the real stakeholders in J&K are the peace-loving, nationalist people of the State and therefore the interest of the common man in the J&K cannot be made subservient to the interest of the ruling party in the State.
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