Farooq slams attack, Lone attacks him for plotting it

Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Gani Lone today accused Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah of orchestrating an attack on him, describing it as part of a campaign to intimidate and muffle the moderate voices in the separatist camp which was posing a real challenge to him in Kashmir.

Call back troops if we are not going to war with Pak: CM

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday demanded military de-escalation along the border if the troops were not going to cross over to put an end to cross-border terrorism. On Monday, Abdullah had slammed the Centre in the J-K Assembly for not going to war with Pakistan. Abdullah had a 30-minute closed-door meeting with Home Minister L.K. Advani. Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting, he said: 8216;8216;We should either move forward or backwards.8217;8217; It was time the Centre re-examined its ranniti military strategies, the Chief Minister said, adding: 8216;8216;Pakistan has to be taught a lesson8230;The attack on the Raghunath temple in Jammu is a glaring example of Islamabad8217;s insincerity in efforts to improve relations with New Delhi.8217;8217; ENS

Lone was manhandled by Shiv Sena leader Kalkiji Maharaj yesterday soon after he addressed a press conference in Jammu in the presence of a group of policemen.

The Chief Minister today condemned the attack in the Assembly and said the law would take its own course. 8216;8216;I have no love for Lone or people like him. However, one thing is clear 8212; we don8217;t believe in vandalism. I along with the entire House condemn this incident,8217;8217; he said.

Denying that his party had any role in the incident, he added 8216;8216;we have no objection if the views are in national interest; we are opposed to only those who are anti-national and talk of Pakistan and azadi.8217;8217;

Lone, however, blamed Farooq directly for the incident. 8216;8216;This goonda who belongs to the Shiv Sena could have never mustered the courage to manhandle me without the blessings of Farooq, whose government has provided him with an escort of six policemen and a vehicle,8217;8217; he told The Indian Express. 8216;8216;It8217;s part of a smear campaign launched by Farooq and his ruling party to intimidate all the moderate voices, which have frustrated him, especially in view of the coming assembly polls.8217;8217;

Lone said his party, People8217;s Conference, had just a day earlier organised a seminar in which representatives of various political parties had participated. 8216;8216;There were 28 leaders and intellectuals from the Jammu and Ladakh regions and the hall was jampacked despite a total strike in Jammu in protest against the Raghunath Mandir attack,8217;8217; he said. 8216;8216;Although there were many disagreements, after a seven-hour long discussion, there was one major consensus 8212; that there is not even a remote possibility of free and fair polls in Kashmir while Abdullah is in power. This has irritated Farooq.8217;8217;

Lone said the Shiv Sena has four factions in Jammu and Kalkiji Maharaj and his faction, he alleged, were hand-in-glove with Farooq. 8216;8216;He is a known extortionist and belongs to Mumbai, where he is facing a murder charge. He enjoys full patronage of Farooq and this attack was also carried out at his behest,8217;8217; he said.

Lone described Farooq8217;s harsh remarks against the Centre in the Assembly yesterday as frustration. 8216;8216;He is just trying to scare Delhi by his hollow rhetoric. He feels insecure because of the moderate voices in Kashmir and that is why he blames Delhi for considering Hurriyat the true representatives of Kashmiris and not him,8217;8217; he said.

8216;8216;Rabid communalists and those on the payroll of Pakistan are his true friends because it suits him. He has sensed that the danger to him comes only from those leaders and parties who talk of a dialogue and want a peaceful settlement of the dispute,8217;8217; Lone said. 8216;8216;Farooq8217;s political strength hinges on uncertainty and confusion that has engulfed the state because of absence of a true political process. Once a dialogue starts with the separatist leaders, the uncertainty will automatically go as also his rule.

8216;8216;Farooq is anti-peace. He does everything possible to hamper political initiatives launched by Delhi or us and that has been his priority right from day one,8217;8217; said Lone.

The moderate voice in the Hurriyat then regretted that he was hated even by many of his colleagues in the Hurriyat for the same reasons. 8216;8216;Apno ki bhi yahi pareshani hai. Unko bhi aqal wali souch se nafrat hai This is what troubles many of my own people too. They too have a problem with reason and logic,8217;8217; he said.

Lashing out at the Centre for not having a well-defined Kashmir policy, Lone asked: 8216;8216;What is the fun of holding moderate views? It is only my party in the Hurriyat whose entire leadership has been put behind bars by the government. My party8217;s block presidents and other activists are being harassed daily. They have been looking for one of my important block presidents in Kupwara and wanted to book him under POTO. All this is aimed at stalling the political activity of my party,8217;8217; he said.