Srinagar, Oct 24: Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday took out a protest rally against what it termed “rampant corruption” prevailing in Jammu Kashmir. The party chief Mehbooba Mufti accused New Delhi of turning a blind eye towards the corruption in JK,  saying "chief ministers of other states are being put behind bars and replaced on gratification accusations,  but Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister is facing graver charges than his counterparts and is enjoying impunity here."
 Led by party president Mehbooba Mufti, hundreds of PDP cadres took out the rally from their  headquarter here this morning, amid slogans of ““MLC Ki rate kya 50 Lakh 50 Lakh (What is the rate of MLC Rs 50 lakh)” “Minister ki rate kya 1 crore 1crore (What is the rate of minister, Rs 1 crore)” NC door adam khoor(NC rule –man-eater) , Corrupt Sarkar hai hai (Down with corrupt government) .They also carried an effigy of the NC led government garlanded wit money.
 Marching through the City centre, the PDP workers were intercepted by hundreds of policemen deployed in strength at Regal Chowk and were not allowed to move ahead.
 Addressing party activist there, Mehbooba said, it is unfortunate that New Delhi has turned blind eyes towards the corruption, misgovernance in state under Omar Abdullah’s rule.
 “On one hand there is anti-corruption crusade throughout the country, but on other rulers of state are indulging in corruption,” she said, adding “People of Jammu and Kashmir feel isolated and neglected while they watch chief ministers and senior politicians in other states put behind the bars on corruption charges and in contrast corrupt politicians enjoy immunity from any laws or accountability in JK".
 Lashing out at New Delhi for “double standards”, Mehbooba said Chief Ministers were replaced and put behind the bars in Karnataka and Mahrashtra respectively on corruption charges lesser than the ones faced by CM here.
 “Karnataka CM Yedurappa is in jail and Mahrashtra CM Ashok Chavan has been replaced on gratification charges and Jayalaliitha of Tamil Nadu has to appear in the court. But here Sayeed Muhammad Yosuf walked into the CM’s home, discussed money matters of the family and died. However, no one took to the cognizance of the matter,” she said.   
 Mehbooba said, even crusaders of anti-corruption campaign Anna Hazare and his team are being questioned, but in Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah family enjoys immunity against accountability.
 “They are being protected as if JK’s accession was only with Abdullah family,  which was above law and could get away with anything,” she said, “How New Delhi  tolerates the money allocated for development of the state going into the pockets of ruling politicians and Abdullah family?”
 She added, that PDP wouldn’t stop short of achieving its objective of weeding out the corruption in JK.
 Coming down heavily on chief minister Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba said 120 youth killed during last year’s unrest were dubbed as Lashkar-e-Toiba militants and drug addicts by him. “They were denied justice by his government,” she said.
 Mehbooba alleged that NC had systematically destroyed institutions in Jammu and Kashmir. “Despite overwhelming participation of people in Panchayat elections, they are yet to be empowered .Even as the cash for vote scam in parliament is now being tried in court, in JK a similar case was not even investigated,” Mehbboba said,  while referring to the BJP members having voted for the ruling coalition in Legislative  Council elections.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 IST