SRINAGAR: Veteran Congressman and former Indian diplomat Mani Shankar Aiyar Tuesday said that Central Government should justify on what basis it has not implemented the recommendations of interlocutors who were appointed by it after 2010 unrest in Kashmir.
There is lot of alienation and countless grievances and the fact is that Government of India wants to redress the grievances of youth of Kashmir but unfortunately something untoward happens and the situation gets bad to worse, Aiyar said in an interview.
Mani Shankar Aiyar while defending Supreme Court verdict about the hanging of Afzal Guru lamented that the way he (Afzal) was not allowed to meet his family was in fact a blot on democracy. I as a human being do not approve hanging as a remedy for all problems. No one should be hanged whatever his crime may be. I feel that human beings are good at nature and they should be given a chance to rectify themselves, he said.
He said that it is unfair to say that elections were always rigged in Kashmir. Election Commission of India is an autonomous body and more powerful than the government of India. If people of Kashmir feel that elections are rigged then they should participate in elections. Aiyar said adding that people of Kashmir feel that India gives them a different treatment which is not fair.
Its not only people of Kashmir, people in every state feel that they are not being given justice. Take the example of Bihar, people there also have this feeling that government of India pushes them to wall. Same is the perception prevailing in the Valley. So it is better for people to think what will suit them. Let the people of Kashmir participate in elections and elect a government of their choice. I dont think rigging takes place in Kashmir and people by participating in large numbers can only prove this notion wrong, Aiyar said.
Congress member parliament and author said that it was not Kashmir only where people raise questions over police and judicial reforms. Everywhere in India, be it Andhra, Mumbai or Tamil Nadu, people are not satisfied with judicial and police reforms and they continuously raise their fingers over these reforms. It is totally wrong to say that government of India is not serious about the issues and grievances of the people of Kashmir. I must tell you the government is serious about every Kashmiri as it is serious about the people of any other part of the state, he said.
While replying to a question Mani said that people of Jammu and Kashmir have a right to ask the Central Government why it did not implement the recommendations of interlocutors?
Number of committees and commissions are being constituted but it is not necessary to implement all their recommendations. However people of Jammu and Kashmir can ask Central Government why it didn’t implement the recommendations. (CNS)
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