Dr. Karan Singh:
Shriman Rajrajeshwar Maharaj Adhiraj Shri Dr. Karan Singh does not need any introduction. He is the son of Hari Singh, the last Maharaja Of J&K. After his father  stepped down as King , Dr. Karan Singh was first appointed   as Reagent & then Sadri-Riyasat of J&K State. In 1953, acting on the instructions of New-Delhi, he dismissed the popular Govt led by the  tallest leader of the time, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and anointed Bhakshi Ghulam Muhammad as Prime Minister.
Dr. Karan Singh was recently in Jammu to unveil the Statute  of  Maharaja Gulab Singh, the founder of Dogra dynasty in J&K . Addressing a sizable  gathering on the occasion, he said
“Bapuji  Ne Jammu Kashmir Ka Bharat Mein Jo vilaya Kiya Woh Sahi Kiya….. Aur Jammu Kashmir Bharat Ka Atoot Ang Hai” (My father’s decision about accession of J&K with the Union of India was right…and J&K is an integral part of India.”)-Source Daily Kashmir Times
Inder Mahindar Bahadur Dr. Karan Singh Ji- Public memories are undoubtedly short but not as short as you would like them to forget what you said in an OP-ED piece written for National daily The Times of India on 25th May 1990. If your memory has waned a little bit, let me refresh it by reproducing what you said in that article  
“Whether we like it or not, the fact is that historically and constitutionally Jammu and Kashmir is a special case, and there still is a dispute about it. The Simla Agreement, which is our constant refrain, in fact specifically mentions that Jammu and Kashmir is an unresolved problem between India and Pakistan, which is to be peacefully sorted out bilaterally.”
Mahabali Dr. Karan Singh Ji, I find your two statements ambiguous and in total contradiction to each other simply meant to mislead the general public. This does not behoove  a person of your stature and appearance  propagating  value based politics & clean public life, a rare commodity found these days.
And for  this diabolical statement, Dr.  Karan Singh,  deserves a stone to be pelted at.

   S.K.Sinha
Sh. S. K. Sinha, the former Governor of J&K, is a professional soldier. His connections with Kashmir are both Militaristic well as political .  As an Army man he commanded a battalion in Ladakh,  and an infantry division in J&K. In 1949, he was appointed Secretary of the Indian delegation on delineation of the Cease Fire Line in Kashmir at a meeting convened by the United Nations. In 1983 he was denied the post of Army Chief, reportedly due to adverse intelligence inputs of his extreme right wing leanings. He has also acted as Governor of Assam & more recently as Governor of J&K.
His tenure as Governor of J&K was marred by controversies. As ex-officio Chairman of  Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, he wanted to  make the  Yatra, a continuous Annual affair. For this purpose he even planned to install a Holy Shiv-lingam constructed of artificial ice and/or marble stone  even at the cost of  incurring  wrath of Hindu religious leaders. Through this game plan he wanted to ensure presence of at-least five to six lakh yatris in Kashmir at any point of time in the year .Taking benefit of existing Census rules, which  require any person, be he a tourist, Yatri or even  a casual visitor to be counted in the population of the area in which he was present at the time of census, Sinha is said to have nursed great designs to change the demographic character of the Kashmir valley. Somehow this plan did not materialize due to tremendous sacrifices of the people during that particular agitation.
To put his nefarious designs into action, he made desperate attempts to prolong his stay in the Raj Bhawan and even furnished an absurd reason of non-availability of domestic servant back home as reason for extension. Eventually he left but put the whole state on fire. Credit  goes partly to then chief Minster, Mufti Muhammad Syed, who took cudgels and hastened his exit process.
Leaving that topic there for a future discussion, let us have a look at what he said recently in connection with  MLA- population ratio of two provinces of J&K.
“For 49,725 voters, Kashmir has one MLA but Jammu has one MLA for 66,521 voters. This means that despite having 1,77,153 more voters, Jammu has nine MLAs less in the legislature than Kashmir”.- Source Deccan Chronicle
Bhum Bhum Bole Sinha Ji- While we are convinced of your capability to divide people of this country on religious & regional lines, we were hitherto unaware of your mastery or jugglery to fiddle with figures to achieve that design. By the way General Sahib- may we dare to ask  as to why you are  so specially interested   in the population ratio & mix of this State? There are other states also which deserve your time & attention. We hope & pray that you are not upto some other  game plan for our besieged State.
Sir, The truth is that as per the constitutional scheme of things, it is not the number of voters but the  population which determine the number of MLAs of any particular area. The former means persons entitled to vote while the latter means sum total of persons entitled to vote plus persons not so entitled  for one reason or the other say people below prescribed age or those omitted from voter lists. The fact is that compared to Kashmir province, the total population of Jammu province is less by around ten lakhs and hence the Number of MLAs for Kashmir province has to be more than Jammu  province to match that gap.
And for this misleading & divisive statement, Mr. S.K.Sinha deserves a stone to be pelted at.

Army Spokesman:  
The repeal of AFPSA is a hot topic these days. The Indian Army is defending the Act to the hilt. Help has come from unexpected quarters like Air force & Naval chief.
In the background  of this defence, an army spokesman recently dished out a statement which reads as:
"As many as 1,514 FIRs have been registered against army personnel for alleged human rights violations in the last 20 years of militancy". Out of these 1,508 cases have been investigated while probe is continuing in the remaining six cases. "As many as 1,473 complaints - nearly 97 per cent of the cases-- were found false and baseless,"
Mr. Spokesman Ji- If I understand your statement correctly then 97 complainants  out of  every hundred, were loitering or making picnic outside police stations. Since they had enough  time to waste, they went inside police stations and out of sheer fun lodged Complaints against the army. And the funniest part  is that our Police, nursing some old grievance against the army lodged FIRs without even putting  any preliminary questions to the complaining public.
By the way  could  that police grievance be the incident of  26th July 1980 when a trivial incident in Lal Chowk made few Army personnel to go berserk  & break both the jaws of the then Senior Superintendent of Police, Sh. Watali? There were no militants then nor was any  AFPSA in force.
Spokesman Ji- In case of complaints against Army, You are the accused- You are the witness-You are the defence. You are the Judge.
But nonetheless for issuing a statement which rubs salt on our wounds, army spokesman deserves a stone to be pelted at.

(The author is a practicing Chartered Accountant. Feedback at amzargar1@indiatimes.com)

Lastupdate on : Sat, 30 Oct 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 30 Oct 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:00:00 IST