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Farooq suddenly finds BJP flag unacceptable

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Again, for the countless time, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah repeated his cliched claim:

Normalcy is fast returning to Kashmir, the situation has improved remarkably.

And as proof, he pointed out the time when Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were airlifted under heavy security to Lal Chowk, the Srinagar nerve centre, six years ago.

Today, the chief minister said addressing delegates at Back to paradise, a conference on domestic tourism, that is not so.

"This year they (the BJP leaders) went to remote villages for election campaign," he said, "That shows the situation has improved very much."

Dr Abdullah also had certain anti-Hindutva sentiments to air at the conference. "Kashmiris have never accepted the flag of the party," he said.

The statement, considering that Dr Abdullah's National Conference indirectly supported the BJP in Parliament and announced 'issue-based' support to it, comes a surprise to everyone.

Speaking on, Dr Abdullah lambasted the Kashmiri house boat, hotel and taxi owners and held them, besides militancy, responsible for the destruction of the tourist industry. He threatened them with action if they did not pay their power tariff and bank loans.

"I cannot beg the Centre every time for loans. We owe the National Hydro Power Corporation Rs 6 billion," he said.

The chief minister disclosed that talks were going on with Austria and Korea to build a a tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which would reduce the journey time from 12 hours to five hours.

The conference, attended by nearly 200 delegates, was organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, at the heavily-guarded Conference centre, besides the famous Dal lake.

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