Jammu, October 12 (Scoop News) –It is ironic that at a time when the General Officer Commander (GOC) Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain warns of all time high strength of militants waiting to infiltrate across LoC, the Chief Minister of the State holds a meeting with Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and requests the latter to revoke Disturbed Areas Act (DAA) and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), said BJP State Chief Spokesperson & National Executive Member Dr. Jitendra Singh, adding that better would have been for the Chief Minister to avail of his meeting with Union Home Minister as an opportunity to explain the facts behind the mysterious death of National Conference activist Yousuf Shah in cash-for-MLC scam but by not doing so and instead taking of AFSPA withdrawal, the Chief Minister has only tried in vain to divert the public focus from his alleged involvement in the Yousuf Shah case.
This is a dangerous game, warned Dr. Jitendra Singh and said that the Chief Minister is also following the same practice which is followed by other so-called mainstream Kashmir-centric leaders who, whenever they find themselves caught on the wrong foot, try to raise issues with separatist undertones with the twin objective of blackmailing the Govt. of India and at the same time seeking sympathy from Kashmir separatist camp.
Reiterating the BJP demand for a CBI inquiry into Yousuf Shah case, Dr. Jitendra Singh said it is against the law of justice to have an inquiry conducted by an agency or department which is subordinate to the person or persons against whom the inquiry is to be carried out. Dr. Jitendra Singh said the BJP has taken a very clear stand within the party on cash-for-MLC issue and suggested that other political parties should also follow the BJP example.
In addition, Dr. Jitendra Singh also cautioned against using Army as a tool to settle political scores and said that in matters like AFSPA, ignoring the opinion of Army and security experts could prove disastorous. He reminded that time and again both the Chief of the army staff Gen. V.K. Singh as well as the Union Defence Ministry A.K. Antony have exphasized the need to continue with AFSPA in order to facilitate effective security arrangement in the state.
He also asked the Congress party, as partner in state coalition government, to make its stand clear on the issue and give up its policy of fooling the people of state by avoiding to take a clear stand on a host of vital issues including implementation of 73rd & 74th Constitutional Amendment of the Indian Constitution. He further added that with Rahul Gandhi and state Congress leadership taking opposite positions on the issue 73rd & 74th amendment, the Congress party stands fully exposed.