CM on Geelani rally: Limits can’t be crossed
In an informal chat with media men at Nehru Guest House here, the Chief Minister said the government had started a process and things were moving forward.
Ruling out any “immediate challenge” for the present dispensation led by him, the J&K Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed Sunday hinted at fighting “battle of ideas” with the resistance camp “within certain limits.”
He also said his government had no problems with the Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Geelani’s recent rally “but waving of (Pakistan) flag disrupted the atmosphere.”
In an informal chat with media men at Nehru Guest House here, the Chief Minister said the government had started a process and things were moving forward.
“I fought with New Delhi over (Muslim League Chairman) Masrat Alam’s release, but I was surprised to see him on television,” the Chief Minister said. “There was no problem with (Geelani’s) rally. Geelani sahab was returning (from New Delhi) but waving of flag (Pakistan flag) in the rally disrupted the process. There are limits which cannot be crossed. We have to take care that the situation doesn’t go out of hand.”
Pertinently, the alleged waving of Pakistani flag in Geelani’s rally on his return from New Delhi on April 15 had snowballed into a major controversy. It was after Geelani’s rally that Alam was detained and later booked under Public Safety Act (PSA) for “raising pro-Pakistan slogans.”
Alam arrest brought the Chief Minister’s assertion that “democracy is a battle of ideas” into question.
About dredging of Wular Lake in north Kashmir’s Bandipore district, the Chief Minister said he had apprised the former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh about the issue. “I told the former Prime Minister that I wanted to go to Pakistan and tell them how holding of water by us would help them with Mangla dam once for all. Pakistan needs to be made to understand how it can help them with water reservoirs as well,” Mufti said.
Mangla is a multipurpose dam located on river Jehlum in Mirpur, Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK).
Later talking to us, the Chief Minister said the government is committed to remove encroachments on banks of river Jehlum. “God saved us from the second flood,” he said.
About rehabilitation of flood victims, Mufti said the government is committed to ensure that all victims are rehabilitated.
“We started with traders and destitute. We started from those traders who had no insurance cover. Rehabilitation will be done in phases. In phase two, we will cover those whose houses got damaged, both partially as well as fully,” he said.
To a query whether he had listed any major challenges for his government, he said “as of now I see no challenges.”
“I see no immediate challenges for my government,” he said.
Maintaining that Tourism promotion was his top priority, he said: “During my Mumbai sojourn, I met Bollywood actors like Shahrukh Khan and Dilip Kumar and urged them to help in promotion of Kashmir. Salman Khan completed first leg of shooting of his film here. I hope these things will help us promote Kashmir and attract tourists.”
Mufti, however, said Kashmir lacks tourism infrastructure. “I talked to many people in Mumbai and many of them are ready to invest here and help in developing good tourism infrastructure,” he said.
The Chief Minister said his government is under a pledge to provide ration to people of State as per Census-2011. “There was a huge gap as people were getting ration as per 2001 Census,” he said.
