SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik has said that India has made mistakes while handling Kashmir and in the process, alienated itself.
In an interview to Indian Express, Malik said: “Yeh koi, ek tarah se, occupation nahin hai. Isko ab aap occupation term do, woh ek alag baat hai. Lekin nahin, woh baat baithti nahin hai. Ye kaho ki humse mishandling hui hai. India se galti hui, India ne apni galtiyon se apne aap ko alien banaya. Occupation force ke taur pe India ko pesh kiya ja sakta hai, jo cheezein hui hain. Lekin Kashmir is not an occupied territory, apni marzi se hamare saath aaye hue hain,” he said. (“This is not an occupation. It is another matter if someone chooses to use the occupation term. But no, that is not correct. You can say we have mishandled. India has made mistakes, and its mistakes have, in the process, alienated itself. Because of what has happened, India is being presented as an occupation force. But Kashmir is not an occupied territory, it came to us of its own free will.”)
Allaying fears over the moves to tinker with state subject laws of the state, Malik said: “There is nothing to worry about. It is possible that we have not kept the promises made at that time but I guarantee that on 370 and 35A, and I have faith in the Indian judiciary, there is nothing to worry about.”
Malik said that the arguments on Article 35-A should be deferred until there is an elected government in the state. “I am not an elected representative but my stand is that arguments on 35A should be deferred until there is an elected government in power. But even in Himachal (Pradesh) and the (states of) North East, you cannot buy land. Ye kaun sa bada gunaah hai (How is this a major wrong)? These are issues raised due to political reasons.”
Malik, who took over the governor of the state two months after the collapse of PDP-BJP government said that he was in favour of wiping militancy, and not militants.
“Mai unko maarne ke paksh mein nahin hoon. Militants ko nahin maarna hai, humko militancy ko maarna hai. Logon ki nigah mein militancy ko useless banana hai, ki iski koi zaroorat nahin hai (I am not in favour of killing them. We have to kill militancy, not militants. It has to be made useless in the eyes of the people.) You kill one militant, and five more will join. But I’m not for that.”
He also said that Azadi or merger with Pakistan was not possible. “I want to tell them (militants) respectfully that the dreams they have been shown in the last 15-20 years are unrealistic. From Sheikh (Abdullah) Sahab’s time until now — Azaadi or Pakistan — I want to say to them that they are not even one-fourth of the LTTE. The LTTE had such a committed cadre that 12-year-old girls would fight barefoot in the jungles. They got money and weapons from 14 nations. When they could not take over a country, it is not possible here,” Malik said.