'India projects the image of a soft state'

New Delhi: Lieutenant General (Retired) S.K. Sinha is known for his principled stand. As the general-officer commanding, Western Command, he was transferred to Delhi as the vice chief of army staff.

It was expected he would succeed Gen K.V. Krishna Rao as army chief, so it came as a surprise when he was superseded.

Sinha quietly submitted his resignation. He has been the most proactive governor that Assam and Jammu and Kashmir have seen. Sinha's debatable report on the influx of Bangladeshis into India sent to then President K.R. Narayanan created as much furore as did his seeking assistance from the government to provide shelter to Amarnath Shrine pilgrims.

Gulf News spoke to the outspoken and often controversial general:

GULF NEWS: You have accused People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of stage-managing his daughter Rubaiya's abduction in 1989. How did you come to this conclusion?

LT GEN S.K. SINHA: This has been widely talked about in the whole of Kashmir. There is also a book by Abdul Rahim Wagh where this is mentioned. And yes, the decision to get his daughter released in lieu of the five terrorists was the beginning of trouble in Kashmir.

Did the incident trigger heightened militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and did it set a precedent for militants to dictate their terms to the Indian government?

That was the beginning when militancy started. Those people who were released were active terrorists operating from Pakistan. And sure, India was considered a soft State.

Would you term the Kandahar plane hijack episode a fallout of this?

There again we buckled. Of course, that time the stakes were much higher, as it involved the lives of hundreds of passengers. The government gave in because of the interest of such a large number of people. But the fact remains that it was wrong to do so. Moreover, in the last five years, India is projecting an image of a very soft state incapable of protecting its citizens.

You have served in the Intelligence service. What is lacking in today's time? Why do we not know about terrorist attacks and stop them before they happen?

Intelligence is there, but there is a lack of political will to act. And this amounts to criminal and culpable negligence. The resignations of the Indian home minister [Shivraj Patil] and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra [RR Patil] are fine. But what about the National Security Adviser, [M.K. Narayanan]? He is as much to be blamed.

PDP's Mehbooba Mufti has made corruption charges against you. You said you would file a defamation case against her.

Both father and daughter are resorting to street politics. Mehbooba talks of corruption and Mufti accuses me of having links with Malegaon blast accused Swami Dayanand Pandey. My first reaction was to file a defamation case. But on taking legal advice I was told it would take years in the court with no results. Now they have made their own case weak by levelling the same charges [of having links with the swami] against Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, who has gone to the court.

Regarding the Amarnath shrine issue you allege that the Sayeeds have been playing dirty politics.

It was a total non-issue. The government had been diverting forest land for various purposes for several years. Thousands of acres were given to companies including Reliance and Airtel. And even on the day this 100-acre land was diverted, there were five other such transfers, but no one talked about those. For the last many years, this land is being was used for Amarnath Yatra. For eight months a year the plot remains unapproachable and uninhabited because of the snow.

In 2005, the Amarnath Shrine Board (ASB), of which I am the chairman, requested this land. And they had a good reason. Previously, tents were put up during the Amarnath Yatra and now we wanted to put pre-fabricated shelters. But Mufti would not allow it. The high court then gave a favourable decision. But the government sat on it for three years. In 2008, finally the sanction was given. And it was categorically stated that ownership of the land would remain with the state government and the ASB could use it only during the yatra period. But then rumours started floating thick and fast that the ASB was bringing in Hindus to settle in Kashmir and that would change the demography of Kashmir.

There can be nothing more absurd than this; people temporarily living in 100 acres of land could change the demography of a place. And there were agitations. Incidentally, Mufti and his ministers who were party to the decision of giving the land joined the agitation to draw political mileage. And unnecessarily, communal feelings were whipped up.

You have stated in an interview: 'It is because of Mufti's recommendation that the Indian government has been providing a monthly subsidy to the families of terrorists.'

When Mufti became the chief minister, he came up with a slogan - 'healing touch'. And I as governor said that it was a good thing, but let there be healing touch for the victims of terrorists rather than the terrorists. After Mufti ceased to be chief minister, we had series of round table conferences and PDP kept on demanding subsidy for the terrorists. So, in 2007, one of the decisions taken was to provide pension benefits to the families of terrorists killed in encounters. Now this does not happen anywhere in the world! You provide pension to personnel of security forces who get killed on duty, not to the terrorists. But then this is the warped approach of the Government of India.

So has the central government been financing terrorists?

Since that is what the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has done, we have incidents like the Mumbai blasts. I do not know if funding has already begun, but it must have. In any case, the Kashmir government lives on subsidy and 80 per cent of the salary of their state officials is paid by the central government.

How would you view the present situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the elections?

Despite several pundits saying there will be a small voter turnout, in spite of the boycott call given by the separatists, and Mufti saying the elections should not be held in the state, there has been more voter turnout in Kashmir than in Delhi. What does it indicate? That the silent majority is asserting itself.