Pahalgam (JK): As he backed the Jammu and
Kashmir government over preventing a rights activist from
entering the Valley, Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday sought to clarify that he doesn`t interfere in the
administrative matters of the state.
Defending the state government`s decision to turn
back Navlakha, who is known to have separatist views on Jammu
and Kashmir, he said: "It is all right. For safety of Kashmir,
we will do anything. It should be done. We want tourism, we do
not want tragedies."
Gautam Navlakha, a frequent traveller to the Valley
for the last two decades, has written extensively about
alleged human rights violations in the state and is consulting
editor of a leading magazine. He was detained at Srinagar
Airport yesterday under section 144 CrPC.
Asked if Arundhati Roy will be allowed to visit the
Valley, Abdullah evaded a direct reply saying, "I do not know
what she is coming here for. I have nothing to do with her or
with her book."
"What are they coming for? What does that writer want
- to burn Kashmir? Let them burn some other place in India.
Kashmir is not for burning," Abdullah, Union Minister for
Renewable Energy, told reporters here, 100 km from Srinagar.
Seeking to distance himself from the administrative
matters of the state, he said, "I will not advise my son (Omar
Abdullah). He is Chief Minister...he decides his things."
PTI
