We will tell the truth

Interview with M. Veerappa Moily, Congress general secretary.

THE Congress seems to have hardened its stand on the ongoing agitation in Jammu and Kashmir. We have decided to go all out and tell the people that the unity of Jammu and Kashmir is the unity of India and nobody should be allowed to meddle with that, said party general secretary M. Veerappa Moily in an interview to Frontline.Excerpts from the interview:

The agitation in the State has been going on for over two months now. Yet, neither the government nor the party seems to have any clue as to how a solution can be worked out.

The only way out is for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to see reason. They have to understand that this agitation has been imposed on them because there is no truth in the allegation that there was an attempt at changing the demographic profile of the valley; neither is it true that the government has not done enough to provide facilities for Amarnath pilgrims. In 2003, only a hundred thousand people visited the shrine, but this year over five hundred thousand people visited Amarnath. This has been made possible because in the last four and a half years there has been an atmosphere of security and normalcy.

Then, why was the land allotment reversed?

Let me make it clear that in the first place, there was no allotment. So there was no revocation, either. It was only a Cabinet decision to give the land on lease for two months for the creation of temporary facilities for pilgrims, for which the Shrine Board was supposed to deposit Rs.2.5 crore. But no transfer of land was made and no money was deposited. So there was no revocation, and hence there cannot be any restoration of land now.

Why could the government not say so when the valley was up in arms?

We adopted a soft line at that time because when passions run high, using tough words do not help. It was the BJP, especially its pointsman, former Governor S.K. Sinha, who made it look as if it was a permanent transfer of land. This provoked people in the valley. But now we have decided to tell the people what the reality is. People in Jammu need to understand that the government has been doing quite a lot for the creation of facilities for Amarnath pilgrims. It is the same thing as creating facilities for the Kumbh Mela or for Hajj during the duration of that pilgrimage. By running a misinformation campaign on this issue, the BJP has done a great disservice to the nation. It created such a furore over a non-issue.

But how will you explain the fact that on such a non-issue thousands of people came out on the streets in Kashmir demanding azadi?

All this is thanks to the BJP. Their hate campaign in Jammu revived the dormant Hurriyat Conference, which took advantage of the situation. The Hurriyat Conference had become defunct for all practical purposes there were no takers for jehad in Kashmir, but now the BJP has given it a new lease of life. This is a serious matter, but the Government of India knows how to deal with such elements.

What do you think the party or the UPA government should be doing now to bring back a semblance of normalcy to the State?

We need to tell the people what the reality is, and I am sure they will see reason. After all, nobody wants disturbances. We are hopeful that when the truth comes out, the agitation will die down, as it did in the case of the Ram Sethu. We will expose the BJPs game plan, too. We will tell the people that it was their [the BJPs] ploy to exploit the situation to increase their seat tally.