New Delhi: Under attack over reports that attempts were made to topple the Jammu and Kashmir government during his tenure as Army Chief, retired Gen V K Singh on Monday night claimed that "certain ministers" in the state are given money by the army for "stability" and that this has been going on since Independence.
In a separate interview to a Chennai-based newspaper, the retired general named one of the recepients as J&K agriculture minister Ghulam Hassan Mir.
Gen Singh said: "(Ghulam Hassan Mir) is one of the most nationalistic politicians in Kashmir today, whose work has been appreciated by other intelligence agencies too…
"He has organised youth programmes to direct the young men of Kashmir away from militancy, and those who say that he is trying to topple an elected State government do not know the reality."
Singh was referring to the charge that the Technical Services Division (TSD) he had set up as Army chief had sought to use Mir to destabilise the government of Omar Abdullah.
Admitting the money was paid but not for destabilising Omar Abdullah government, General Singh said the TSD had worked with politicians like Mir and some pro-India NGOs in Kashmir to blunt the “anti-India propaganda” of separatists from 2010.
“It was all part of a larger game plan, and two major achievements of the TSD were the panchayat elections of 2011 and the sudden end to the stone-throwing agitation in Kashmir in 2010.”
He also said: “Not just Mir but many other politicians in J&K are paid by the Army and other intelligence agencies for nationalistic work aimed at maintaining peace in the State.
"I have served in Kashmir myself and am aware of it. I know which politicians have been paid during my tenures. It is not unusual.”
Singh, who is in the eye of the storm over the charges, told TV channels that the accusations against him were false and motivated.
"Army transfers money to all the ministers in Jammu and Kashmir...Because there are various things to be done and ministers have to do so many things as a part of the stabilising factor in the state and for organising various activities," he told Times Now channel.
Questioned whether all ministers are paid, he amended his statement, saying, "May be not all the ministers but certain ministers and people who are given a certain sum to get a particular thing done. That job involves bringing stability to a particular area."
Asked to explain reasons, Singh argued, "There are times like ... Who funded KPL (Kashmir Premier League)? Did the J&K government or Omar Abdullah fund it? The Army funded it."
Gen Singh, whose tenure as the Army Chief was shrouded in a controversy over his date of birth, argued, "Kashmir is a different issue altogether. A lot of things are done where you do a lot of civic and youth work. For all this, money is needed. A certain amount of money is given for these works. Where is the problem?"
He was responding to allegations that a minister in the J&K government Ghulam Hassan Mir was paid Rs 1.19 crore by the Technical Support Division (TSD) set up during his tenure to destabilise the state government.
Asked if a minister like Mir takes money and siphons it off, Singh said, "I do not think so. We have a system to ensure its accountability. There are proper receipts and enured that the work given is done."
He went on to add, "This had been going on in J&K since Independence. This is a system to ensure that all the governments are helped. To ensure things are done. This is nothing new."
When pressed, he said, "There are things which happen in J&K which are inimical to the country. We have a job -- that is to keep the country together... If we find that we can help, that integrity can be maintained, if we find things can be done, then the army steps in."
Talking separately to CNN-IBN, he denied that the army had any link with an NGO YES Kashmir which had filed a PIL against present Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh in connection with an encounter in Kashmir when he was a Brigadier, apparently to scuttle his elevation to the top post.
When asked if J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah knew about such money being transferred to various ministers, he said that if Mr Abdullah claims that he is ignorant of it, then he [Gen VK Singh] has no words to describe him [Mr Abdullah].
Jammu and Kashmir's National Conference took strong exception to these allegations levelled by Gen V K Singh.
"It is indeed a sad and unfortunate day for the Indian nation and the Indian Army in particular that the former Army Chief is making such reckless and unsubstantiated statements", Rana said while reacting to the allegations made by General Singh to television channels this evening", Provincial President of National Conference Devender Singh Rana said.
Rana described as "unfortunate" the bid to "sensationalize" the matter by the former army chief "in a bid to divert the attention from the core issue".
The Provincial President dared the former army chief to name the ministers of Jammu and Kashmir taking money and said if the name of any National Conference minister figures, he will be sacked by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as National Conference believes in morality and probity in public life.
"As far as Mr Mir is concerned, after the statement of General Singh, it is he who has to address to his conscience", Rana added.
Reacting to Gen Singh's charge, PDP spokesman Sameer Kaul said "I think it is about time that one asked the traditional rulers of Jammu and Kashmir state, the National Conference, as to what have been their ethics in running the state and how much they have interfered with democracy on the ground...?"
