Malik said the people of Jammu and Kashmir were disillusioned by the “lies” spread by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the NC. He said he had spoken to over 200 youths
Malik, now the Governor of Goa, added while speaking to a local TV channel in Panaji on Thursday, that no one was protesting on the streets of Kashmir seeking detained leaders’ release.
Malik was Jammu and Kashmir’s Governor when regional politicians including former chief ministers, Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were detained, the state bifurcated and its special status conferred by article 370 scrapped by the parliament.
Malik said the people of Jammu and Kashmir were disillusioned by the “lies” spread by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the NC. He said he had spoken to over 200 youths.
“I was told: Neither do we have any hopes from Delhi nor Pakistan, neither Hurriyat. The local parties are all the cause of our destruction and we are now in darkness. We are being misguided by religious clergy,” Malik said, recalling what he was told by the youth.
Malik added it had become clear prior to the abrogation of article 370 that the political leaders will incite violence if not detained.
“So these guys decided they have to confront, and one week before 370 was to be declared (sic), Mehbooba kept going across the state and telling (that) rivers of blood will flow if this happens (370 is abrogated). She said no one will be left to hold the national flag. Detention (was) then felt necessary,” Malik said.
He claimed the detained leaders had lost their relevance on the ground.
“Not one citizen has protested on the streets to let them go, or (asking to) relieve them. Sheikh Abdullah had lived in jail for ten years. This is nothing compared. I am not saying that they should be kept for long. Yesterday they have taken off 7,000 forces. Slowly things will get normal there. Shops are opening. Business has started,” he said.
Sheikh Abdullah, the former prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir, was jailed for 11 years in 1953 for promoting the cause of independent Kashmir. He was released in 1964.
Prasanta Patnaik