Srinagar: Politics in Kashmir is "as filthy
as Dal lake" and corruption cuts across party lines, according
to leaked US diplomatic cables from India released by
Wikileaks.
David Mulford in a cable to Washington in 2006 when he
was the US ambassador to India also alleged that corruption in
Jammu and Kashmir was widespread and prevalent not only among
mainstream politicians but separatists as well.
"Corruption cuts across party lines and most Kashmiris
take it as an article of faith that politically-connected
Kashmiris take money from both India and Pakistan," Mulford
said in the cable which was released by Wikileaks last week.
The April 2006 cable, released by Wikileaks and titled
"Kashmiri politics as filthy as Dal lake", alleges that
politicians -- mainstream as well as separatists -- amassed
wealth within the country and abroad.
Mulford observed that the spread of corruption
undermined popular support of existing political parties and
separatists.
"Money from Pakistani and Indian intelligence agencies
and from Saudi and other foreign extremists has further
distorted Kashmiri politics, incentivized leaders to
perpetuate the conflict, and perverted state and central
government institutions," he added.
In another US diplomatic cable, Mulford quoted JKLF
chairman Yasin Malik as alleging that Kashmir is all a "money
game".
"Kashmiri politics is no longer about ideology, it`s
all a money game," the US diplomatic cable dated April 2006
quotes Malik as saying.
The cable further alleged that a "recurring theme"
throughout the interactions with Kashmiris suggest how Indian
and Pakistani money has made all Kashmiri political actors
dependent on "handouts".
The cable said that state administration gets "rivers
of money" for development but the streets in J&K are
"appalling, even by Indian standards."
It however, believed that the funds to Kashmiri
politicians from India and Pakistan will stop flowing
once the Kashmir issue is resolved.
PTI
