Ministers sacrificed to pacify Kashmir: Jammu Bar

Srinagar, Apr 17: While sticking with his demand of CBI probe in Kathua minor’s rape and murder, President, Jammu Bar Association, Bhupinder Singh Salathia said that Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) “sacrificed” their two ministers from the cabinet to pacify Kashmir.
“They were saying the right thing. They were demanding a CBI probe. BJP ne unko halaal kiya hai (BJP has sacrificed them). They have done this to continue in power,” Salathia said in an interview to news portal The Wire.
He further said that the BJP top leadership noticed the media backlash and turned their backs on these two ministers. “Ram Madhav came and sacrificed these two ministers on directions from Kashmir. They have bowed down to the wishes of the Kashmiris, of the PDP,” He said.
Defending the presence of Lal Singh and Ganga at an event supporting the accused in the Kathua case, Salathia said, “They are representatives from that region. Why shouldn’t they go to their constituencies? When a militant dies in Kashmir, Mehboobaji also goes to visit. What is wrong with that?”
He said that Mufti Sayeed tried to bring the two regions together but the experiment has failed. “There is a lot of resentment in the Jammu region against the Valley. All the representation of the state comes from Kashmir. Jammu is totally neglected. There is no attempt to accommodate our aspirations and our demands. The entire discourse is about Kashmir and Kashmir alone,” he said.
Salathia said that Delhi has sacrificed Jammu to support the hegemony of Kashmir. “Kashmiriyon ne apni bat chalayi hai aur humari kisi ne suni nahi (The Kashmiris have always had it their way, and nobody has heard us out). If people in sitting Delhi were truly nationalist, they would not have maligned us, the true nationalists, the way that they have,” he said.
Salathia said that the families in Kathua and Hiranagar have been demanding a CBI probe for a very long time. “They have been complaining that they are being harassed by the police. And, if you look at how everything has played out, you will understand yourself.”
Saying that the “police’s investigation is influenced”, Jammu Bar President said that when the chief minister has already announced what the crime is all about. “How can the police be expected to deviate from that?”
“Then, if you look closely, on February 9, the girl’s biological father filed a writ petition in court saying that he does not trust the investigation by the police.So, if you look at it in totality, there are a lot of suspicions about the police investigation – the victim’s family wasn’t satisfied, the families of the accused weren’t satisfied, and you have Mehboobaji declaring before the investigation began that it is a case of rape and murder. Doesn’t it seem proper that a CBI investigation should be carried out in this matter?,” he claims.
When asked whether crime branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Police has named innocents as the accused, Salathia said: “Look, from the beginning, people in that area have been protesting against unfair investigation by the police. They have been organising protests. They have blocked roads and sat on dharnas. The police has also lathi charged them. All we want is a fair probe and the guilty to be punished.”