SRINAGAR : Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today received unexpected support from opposition National Conference (NC) working president Omar Abdullah who said the former has to be trusted to decide what is in the interest of Jammu and kashmir.
Mr Abdullah on micro-blogging site twitter said “God knows I hold no brief for Mufti Syed but a CM has to be trusted to decide what is & isn’t in the interest of his/her state.”
“And if you can’t trust a CM to decide what is right then it’s better to dispense with state governments & govern from Delhi directly,” he said
Mr Abdullah said, “Mufti wants the discourse to be about anything but his alliance with BJP, his hugs with NaMo & the hollow CMP & so far his script is working.” In his earlier tweet, Mr Abdullah, who was unseated in the 2014 elections, said, “To say Masarat Alam wasn’t charged is a blatant untruth – he was charged under sections Sec 120 121 (waging war against state). 120-b & 307 also.” “I hope DG Rajendra (police chief of the state) comes forward with the facts of Alam’s detention because a lot of blatant lies are being used to discredit J&K police. Yes, my Govt detained Masarat Alam & we kept him out of circulation. Detention isn’t ideal but difficult situations have to be tackled. Alam was the chief architect of the 2010 protests. It’s not a coincidence that the protests died out after his hard won detention,” he added.
Mr Abdullah said “The summer of 2010 was never repeated again, not even after Afzal Guru’s execution & a huge reason for that was the absence of Alam. So either Alam has turned a new leaf & done a deal with the Chief Minister or he will go back to organising trouble in he valley. Time will tell. Whichever way I look at it Alam’s detention saved lives and allowed a smoother safer pair of elections so I have no regrets at all.”
The former CM said, “One last thing for those insisting on calling Alam a ‘political prisoner’ please check YouTube for his videos & then rush in to judge me.” Alam, being considered mastermind of 2010 mass agitation in the Valley during which more than 120 people, mostly youths, were killed in security force and police firing, was released on March 7 from Baramulla jail. The release follows direction by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to police to review cases of all political prisoners against whom there are no criminal cases. Alam was slapped four PSA since his arrest in October 2010 which were later quashed by the courts. However, he was re-arrested each time by police under the same Act. However, the release of Alam evoked sharp reaction from BJP and other parties across the country. (agencies)
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