Srinagar: Peoples Conference Chairman Sajad Gani Lone Friday slammed PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti for pleading clemency for incarcerated JKLF chairman Yasin Malik, asking her to stop ‘contemptuously mocking and humiliating’ those in prisons.
Addressing a news conference here, Lone said Mehbooba Mufti lacks the moral authority to speak on Yasin Malik’s behalf. “Let us presume that the Government of India releases Yasin Malik in this case. There are other cases pending against him. In one such case, Yasin Malik has been identified by a member of Mehbooba Ji’s own family (her sister Rubaiaya Saeed). He will be punished in that case. If she had truly been so merciful and sympathetic, her sister would not have identified him,” he said.
“Had they asked for permission from Yasin Malik, had he permitted them to do so? On whose instance they sent a letter to the Union Home Minister requesting clemency for Malik as majority of the cases against him were filed during their tenure, therefore he (Malik) will actually be upset,” he added.
“This case was filed against Malik in 2002 during the tenure of Farooq Abdullah. Although I don’t support anyone, people should be aware that Yasin Malik had a different political philosophy, and that was the time of track-two diplomacy, with General Parvez Musharaf at one end and Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the other. Although I knew that nothing of the kind would occur, there was a rumor that Hurriyat might contest elections,” Lone claimed.
He said the two families, the PDP and the NC, had spared no time to harm people for decades and make every effort to ruin Jammu and Kashmir, promising he would continue reminding people of their ‘misdeeds’ throughout that period.
“My father was alive then, and I was of the firm belief that Hurriyat would not run for office, but there were rumors, and Mufti Sahab was upset because he was new. Farooq Abdullah, the then chief minister of J&K, was also upset because he was planning to place a crown on his son Omar Abdullah’s head, and he was worried about how they would govern if Hurriyat ran for office under a peace process,” the PC chairman said, adding the then government filed many cases against Mailk, damaging his image in India, and it’s the same case, NIA is seeking that he be executed.
He called on the NC and PDP families to come and seek an apology from people for whatever wrongdoing they may have committed thus far “you may then be able to ask for others’ forgiveness, but until your hands are drenched with blood and false accusations, you lack the moral capacity to act in this way. You cannot kill and then scream. It’s not done; every nation has a sense of history”
Lone also chastised Mehbooba for taking the same stance for the jailed Sarjan Barkati a few days ago, claiming that the latter was detained in 2016 while Mehbooba was in office and that 64 FIRs had been filed against him.“He was arrested in 2016 with 64 FIR’s registered against him and they are now issuing statements in favor of Barkati, making fun of everyone who is in jail. If you cannot help, for god sake, don’t make fun of them, you are humiliating everyone. Based on these FIR he and his wife languishing in jail, leaving their minor children in god’s care,” he added.
Lone also questioned Mehbooba Mufti’s motives behind writing a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “In the affidavit that has gone viral on the internet, Yasin Malik has clearly stated that he has decided not to contest the case,” Lone said.
“I want to ask Mehbooba-ji—at whose behest is she writing this letter and seeking clemency for Malik? Has she even consulted him before sending it?”
