Hoisting of Pak flags: Mufti promises action against Geelani

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed today promised action against those responsible for waving Pakistani flags at yesterday's rally addressed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani even as rightwing Hindu organisations held a protest demanding the separatist leader's arrest.

The Chief Minister also rejected Geelani's demand to curtail the duration of the Amarnath Yatra to 30 days from the planned 59 days and said it will take place as scheduled.

"Some people were involved in such activities. Action will be taken against those involved in such an act," Sayeed told journalists in Ahmedabad, recalling how separatist leader Masarat Alam Bhat, who had himself raised pro-Pakistan slogans and waved Pakistani flags at a rally attended by Geelani was put behind bars.

"When Masarat Alam was released, he had already spent five years under PSA (Public Safety Act). Then, I myself saw him with Pakistani flag. We then took immediate action (against Alam, who was again arrested)," Sayeed, who is on a visit to Gujarat to promote tourism in his state, said, adding "law will take its course".

At the April 15 rally Pakistani flags were waved by Geelani's supporters which led to filing of case against him, his close aide Masarat Alam Bhat and others on sedition and other charges. Bhat was arrested the next day and booked under the stringent Public Safety Act a week later.

At yesterday's rally, the first by him at militancy-hit Tral in south Kashmir, Geelani's had demanded restricting the Amarnath Yatra to 30 days keeping in mind the safety of pilgrims and protection of environment. His supporters had chanted pro-Pakistan slogans and waved that country's national flag.

The Mufti insisted that the yatra will be held as scheduled as "people of Jammu and Kashmir are in its favour."

The Chief Minister appeared to share the view of Geelani against creating exclusive townships for Kashmiri Pandits who wanted to return to the Valley when he spoke about the "culture of living together".

"They are part of our culture, a culture of living together. They had to leave (the Valley) in an atmosphere of militancy in 1990. In the past, we attempted to bring them back but did not succeed in our efforts," Sayeed said.

"Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also made such attempts. Those (displaced) three lakh Kashmiri Pandits are intellectuals and learned. They should come back. My Government will make all possible effort to bring them back," he said when asked about resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits.

Sayeed did not take a question about Pakistan's stand that creation of "dedicated" townships for Pandits will change the demography of the state and will be in violation of the UN resolutions.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has condemned the waving of Pakistani flags at Geelani's rally and said he was confident that the Sayeed government will take steps to stop recurrence of such incidents.

"It (waving of Pak flags) is condemnable. The government has reiterated there is no place for Pakistani flags being hoisted (in India), but at the same time, I would add that the government in the state is capable of handling any situation like this and we expect that they would rise to the occasion," he said in Jammu.

"The state government should go by the promise of not allowing such activities. The state government and the Chief Minister have already taken appropriate action in similar incidents in the past," the MoS in Prime Minister's Office said, apparently referring to Masarat Alam's arrested under the Public Safety Act.

Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, too, slammed Geelani over his demand to curtail Amarnath Yatra, saying the separatists had become "irrelevant" in the state.

Asked whether government was considering action against Geelani after Pakistani flags were waved at his rally yesterday, Singh said, "Law will take its own course. The government is working and police is also working on it. Action will be taken against those who have indulged in such activity."

"Everything will move forward as per our Common Minimum Programme (CMP). In the coming days nobody would dare to indulge in any anti-national activities in J&K and stringent action would be taken against any such element," he said, dismissing suggestions that the BJP-PDP government was soft on separatists.

Meanwhile, rightwing Hindu outfits VHP and Bajrang Dal held a demonstration in Jammu to demand the arrest of Geelani.

Led by Bajrang Dal convenor Rakesh Kumar, around 200 activists of the two organisations staged a protest near the Press Club area where they raised slogans against Geelani and the state government.