Yechury dubs Centre's policy on Kashmir as 'diabolical'

Kolkata, Oct 13: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Saturday said the Centre's policy on Kashmir is "diabolical" and the "alienation of the people of the Valley is almost complete".

The BJP-led government at the Centre is using the disturbances in Kashmir to "get going its process of communal polarisation," Yechury said.

He was referring to the spar between cricketer Gautam Gambhir and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Twitter over Hizbul Mujahideen's top commander Mannan Bashir Wani being gunned down by security forces in an encounter.

"I do not know much about their (Abdullah and Gambhir's) personal comments. The situation in the Valley is really very, very grave. Alienation of the people of the Valley is almost complete," Yechury told reporters at the CPI(M) office here.

"(The) situation in the Valley has deteriorated in the last few years. More soldiers and people have been killed...The policy of the government at the Centre on Kashmir is not a failure, but diabolical," he said.

"They(BJP) are using the Kashmir disturbances to get going the process of communal polarisation like they are doing in the rest of the country. And they are using it to hide the violence in other BJP-led states," the CPI(M) leader added. Gambhir had held politicians, including Abdullah -- the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, responsible for Wani, a scholar from Aligarh Muslim University, taking to terrorism.

Abdullah reacted to Gambhir's comments saying that the cricketer was poorly informed about the dynamics of radicalisation in Kashmir. Yechury also expressed surprise over the Centre not allowing a probe into the Rafale deal and the choice of Reliance Defence of Anil Ambani over state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as offset partner.

PTI