Jammu: National Conference president and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday demanded the constitution of a “Truth Commission for honest investigation” to bring about the whole truth behind the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and the spate of violence that affected all communities, since 1990.
In the same breath, he stated that he was ready to be hanged if he was proven guilty for the same.
In an exclusive interview to India Today Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa at his residence in Srinagar, the former Chief Minister said, “The truth will come out when you put an honest, honourable judge or a retired judge or a committee of these people to find out the truth.
We’ll come to know who is responsible. If Farooq Abdullah is responsible, he (Farooq) is ready to be hanged anywhere in the nation. I’m very true (ready) to stand that trial but don’t blame people who are not responsible.”
Explaining about the nature, profile and mandate of Truth Commission, he stated that it should investigate not only Pandits, but also Sikhs (victims of Chittisinghpora), Muslims who were killed here, his MLAs, workers and ministers who were blown up.
He slammed the Vivek Agnihotri directorial — ‘The Kashmir Files’ — calling it a “propaganda movie.”
“It is a propaganda movie. It has really raked up a tragedy of 1990; the tragedy which has affected every soul in the (erstwhile) state, not only Hindu brethren who had to leave the (erstwhile) state but also the Muslim majority, which was greatly affected at that time. It was a sad, very sad situation because there was an element of (political) parties that were interested in ethnic cleansing and some of the people played part in that ethnic cleansing,” he told Chengappa.
Responding to a question about the impression the movie, which, Chengappa said, “partly seemed to blame him (Farooq) as the then Chief Minister for not doing anything and in fact for being lax in allowing the situation going out of hand”, Farooq dismissed this “notion” as “untrue.”
“I don’t think it’s true. If the people want to know the truth, which is very bitter, there are people who can tell them so. Rather than Farooq Abdullah explaining them, I’ll tell them to talk or read the book of (A S) Dulat, who was the then IB chief here in the (erstwhile) state or talk to Moosa Raza, who is still alive. Thank God! He is living in Chennai. Talk to Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan who was also a central minister at that time. He will also apprise you of the things of that time.” he said.
“Because when the situation was such and they wanted to release five of those people who we had caught. I had refused to release them. I was the Chief Minister that time and the (then) Government of India was led by V P Singh and his associates also included BJP. They were supporting the government. I refused saying – Don’t do it as it will be a terrible tragedy for the nation and it (the nation) will pay a heavy price fir it in future. But they did not listen. So much so, I was told that – if you won’t do it, we would dismiss you. I said – Give me in writing that your cabinet has asked for it as what will happen now, it will be a last nail in the coffin of India in the (erstwhile) state for that. You will be responsible for it,” NC president said while mentioning the turn of events related to Rubia Sayeed’s kidnapping at that time.
“Then the second incident which took place when the plane was hijacked and they wanted to take those three people from here. I begged them- Don’t do it. This will be a great tragedy. I had told them not to give in to the terrorists but they gave in. That is how things blew up. They got emboldened thinking if Russians could be thrown out of Afghanistan, they could also throw India out of Kashmir and we paid a bitter price,” NC president said while mentioning about the Kandhar case.
Bringing in the former Governor (Jagmohan) back into focus, Farooq said that though there’s a tradition not to rake up the names of dead. “We give respect to the dead yet don’t forget – the then Governor put Pandits into the buses and said to them- ‘Within two months, I’ll bring you back. Because I’ve to use force on these people and in that case, retaliation might take place.’ Thirty-two years have lapsed. Where are they (Kashmiri Pandits)?” Farooq asked.
When Chengappa pointed out if he meant to say that only the former Governor was responsible and not he (Farooq), who was the Chief Minister before that or the situation that time, Farooq clarified, “I was not ruling then. The minute Jagmohan came, I gave up saying- ‘You don’t trust us, now you trust him.’ Go ahead to try to save the situation. But was he able to do so? The very first day in Downtown, fifty people lost lives. Then in Bijbehara, the people coming out of the mosque were shot. So how many things should I narrate to you to tell what had happened.”
Was he saying that the Pandits did not flee and it was Jagmohan who asked them to leave so that he could take tough action? In response to this question, Farooq said, “Let me tell you. People will tell you various stories. The truth will come out when you put a honest, honourable judge or a retired judge or a committee of these people to find out the truth. We’ll come to know who is responsible. If Farooq Abdullah is responsible, he (Farooq) is ready to be hanged anywhere in the nation. I’m very true (ready) to stand that trial but don’t blame people who are not responsible.”
Explaining about the nature, profile and mandate of Truth Commission, he stated that it should investigate not only Pandits, but also Sikhs (victims of Chittisinghpora), Muslims who were killed here, his MLAs, workers and ministers who were blown up.
At this point of time, he recalled an incident near old airport when he had paraded the persons caught, including the one terrorist who had come to kill him, and the weapons recovered from them to Rajiv Gandhi, who was the then Prime Minister. “That person told me that he was ready to shoot me but did not when he realised that the things told him there (in Pakistan) about Kashmir were not true,” Farooq narrated.
When asked who was to be blamed for not prosecuting Yasin Malik, Bitta Karate and others in the last over thirty years, the NC president said, “Who released Bitta Karate, the NC government or the Government of India? One of the persons released in case of Kandahar-plane hijacking, killed my first cousin when I was canvassing for Nawab Sahib of Bhopal. Same man shot my MLA in Downtown…That’s why I want them to investigate honestly all these killings, rape of those Kashmiri women in Kupwara. So that the nation knows the truth…time has come when the nation must hear the truth and must live with the truth.”
When asked to spell out what was necessary to give a closure to this entire tragedy, Farooq stated that the way forward was to win the people’s hearts. “We will have to win the hearts of all people viz., KPs, Sikhs and Muslms, who are part of J&K. Also we’ll have to heal the wounds of people across the nation as this film made them bleed again. The Prime Minister and his government must need to heal the wounds created by this film before this all goes into a spiral, difficult to handle. When I say wounds, it means hatred against Muslims, against one community. That’s a tragedy,” he said.
“Not saying whatever happened was good. It was very bad, a great tragedy. But the history of the National Conference is that it stood against communal passion even in 1947 at the time of partition and did not allow harming Hindus here although many of our workers, the members from the majority community paid a price with their lives,” he said.
He was critical of the move of government to offer tax rebates to the movie stating that it would penetrate hatred deeper and might result into a tragedy like the holocaust.
Farooq stated that during their meeting with the Prime Minister when he had extended an invite to them, he requested him to create “trust” to end “Dil Ki Doori and Dilli Se Doori” and he promised to do so also.
“But that promise has not been kept. They had claimed Article 370 abrogation would wipe out militancy. Did it happen? Development is not a potion to the malaise of Kashmir. They will have to treat the real cause, alienation,” he said. Farooq dismissed the charges that his government subsequently did not make efforts to bring back KPs. “We did make efforts yet Wandhama and Budgam massacres forced us to stop as we did not want innocents’ blood on our hands,” he said.