It is now clear that interlocutor on Kashmir Radha Kumar was not being very honest when she claimed she had been “asked” by the Centre to attend an ISI-funded conference on Kashmir, which was hosted by Abdul Majeed Tramboo in Brussels.
It is now clear that interlocutor on Kashmir Radha Kumar was not being very honest when she claimed she had been “asked” by the Centre to attend an ISI-funded conference on Kashmir, which was hosted by Abdul Majeed Tramboo in Brussels.
Replies received by DNA to queries under the RTI Act shows that neither Kumar sought permission nor was she asked by the external affairs or home ministry to attend the conference. She went abroad to attend the ISI-backed conference and was hosted by Tramboo there. Her travel expenses were picked up by Tramboo.
This also raises questions on what kind of background checks was done by the government before choosing Kumar and Dileep Padgaonkar as interlocutors on Kashmir. Worse, according to the government’s, the choice was made personally by “prime minister Manmohan Singh and home minister P Chidambaram”.
Interestingly, the interlocutors are expected to file their report to the union home minister on Wednesday.
In their RTI replies, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) and ministry of external affairs (MEA) denied giving permission to Kumar and Padgaonkar to attend the conferences/events organised by ISI agents Ghulam Nabi Fai and Abdul Majeed Tramboo.
The role of Kumar and Padgaonkar had come under glare after it was found that both had taken hospitality of ISI-funded lobbyists by attending seminars and conferences in the US and Brussels. The third interlocutor, MA Ansari, had demanded that Padgaonkar and Kumar resign when this controversy broke out.
In its reply, the MEA said the J&K interlocutors “did not require political clearance” as they “are not government officials”, which shows how the Centre has allowed the J&K interlocutors to operate freely and make merry on the funds of Pakistan-sponsored lobbyists.
When contacted by DNA seeking clarification, Kumar said, “Sorry, I do not have time to comment on this ridiculous matter.” Then she said: “I didn’t need clearance. I said the government knew I was going and it was in the loop.”
Ironically, the MHA is also ignorant of the interlocutors attending any seminars or conference during their interlocution period. The MHA also said: “The names of group of interlocutors for J&K were decided at the level of prime minister and home minister.”
The ministry is also silent on query on checking the background of the three interlocutors including details of their visits abroad. Does it mean that the vital criteria needed for the sensitive job were set aside for personal preferences of the PM and the home minister?
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