J&K gov asks militants to spare policemen, kill corrupt politicians

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik on Sunday stirred up another controversy by asking militants to spare policemen and ordinary people but kill those politicians and bureaucrats who are corrupt and have looted the state.

“The boys who have picked up guns are unnecessarily killing their own people...they are killing PSOs (personal security officers)... they are killing SPOs (special police officers). Why are you killing them... kill those who have looted your country...those who have looted the whole wealth of Kashmir. Have you, so far, killed any of them?” he said while speaking  at the inauguration of Kargil-Ladakh Tourism Festival-2019 at Khree Sultan Cho Sports Stadium in Kargil.

The governor was, however, quick to advise the militants to shun violence and seek resolution of issues through dialogue.

He said, “They (militants) are getting themselves killed gratuitously. Nothing is achieved through the gun. No one in India can make a government to surrender by using gun.”

He added, “The LTTE of Sri Lanka was the biggest terrorist organisation of the world. But that too has been finished. The government of India will never go down before a gun.”

Mr Malik reiterated that some of J&K’s politicians and bureaucrats have amassed huge wealth through corrupt and dubious means and now own bungalows and other properties not only in the state but also in Delhi, Dubai and London.

“The major disease J&K is suffering from is corruption. I’m not going to spare anyone who indulges in corrupt practices. But people too should build pressure against it. I was at Amarnath recently and met ponnywallas many of whom do not even posses sweaters. But in Srinagar you have palatial houses having fifteen to twenty rooms and furnished with carpets worth crores of rupees,” he said.

Some retired government officers own bungalows at Maharani Bagh and Vasant Kunj in Delhi.”