Civic polls a ‘sham’: Soz

Srinagar, Oct 20: Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader, Prof. Saifuddin Soz on Saturday termed the recently held Urban Local Bodies (ULB) elections in Jammu and Kashmir a ‘sham’.

“The Home Minister, Rajnath Singh statement that Govt. of India wants peace in Kashmir and spends lot of money on fighting terrorism is not palatable as the facts on ground falsify the veracity of that statement,” Soz said in a statement issued.

“In reality, the present dispensation in Delhi wants quietness of a graveyard, in Kashmir, not the real peace. I could safely tell Raj Nath, that real peace has always come through an accord between the parties to the dispute and situations of conflict turned into a harmonious atmosphere,” he said.

“India should open itself to the workable experience of other Nations; otherwise, it will be a dangerous experiment for India to continue using force in Kashmir and go on killing people, day in and day out!,” Soz said.
“When Raj Nath said that GOI is spending more and more money for fighting terrorism in Kashmir, he meant to say that Govt. of India is spending more money to produce a ‘superficially quiet atmosphere’. That will never mean peace as Peace always comes to the hearts and minds of people through discussions and dialogue,” he added.

“It is so tragic that the present dispensation in Delhi had not been able to sustain a workable relationship even with the so-called Mainstream in Kashmir which led the state’s premier party, National Conference to boycott the Local Body Elections that led to a ridiculous “SHAM” of an election of Local Bodies in Kashmir,” he added.