Farooq wants amnesty for Sikh militants

February 20,2010

Farooq wants amnesty for Sikh militants
SP Sharma
Tribune News Service

Union Minister Farooq Abdullah greeting people in village Channu of Muktsar district on Friday. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal is also seen in the picture. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Channu (Muktsar), February 19
Union Minister and patron of the National Conference (NC), Farooq Abdullah, today said he would discuss the issue of amnesty for Sikh militants on a par with those of Kashmir with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal so that the matter could be taken up with the Centre.

Abdullah, who was here to inaugurate a biomass-based power project, said "a thorough screening would be done of each militant who wants to surrender". He made it clear that "we will not open the gates for all ultras to return to Jammu and Kashmir".

Abdullah was reacting to the controversy that has been triggered following Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement during his recent visit to Jammu that the amnesty would be for only Kashmiri ultras and would not cover the Sikh militants.

Abdullah said a modified surrender policy was being planned since a long time and it was not a sudden development. One of the five working groups on Kashmir that was headed by Hamid Ansari before he became the Vice-President of India, had strongly recommended that one-time amnesty should be given to the Kashmiri youth who had gone astray and picked up the gun. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed these groups after a meeting with all political parties of Jammu and Kashmir.

He said the "nitty-gritty" of the proposed plan would be worked out before the surrender policy was rolled out.

Initially, Abdullah refused to talk on the issue and told mediapersons that either Chidambram or Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was in a position to comment on the proposed policy. However, when persuaded, he responded to questions on the issue.

Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was present on the occasion, strongly criticised the Centre for discriminating between the militants of Kashmir and Punjab. "We condemn the decision and the policy should be for all."

Sukhbir Singh said the Centre should not differentiate between the misguided youth of the two states and the proposed surrender policy should be for all.