Omar calls PDP's bluff, says it voted against surrender policy

Chief minister Omar Abdullah today refuted the PDP's claim that it supported the surrender and rehabilitation programme of Kashmiri youths in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and said it was only his party that had taken the initiative.

The records in the assembly are testimony to the fact that the PDP voted against a resolution moved by Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader MY Tarigami while the National Conference supported the initiative, Omar said.

"Some people are habituated to telling lies in private while others shamelessly speak falsehoods publicly," he said, referring to the PDP's claim that it supports the surrender and rehabilitation of youths who had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and the international border during the days of militancy in Jammu & Kashmir.

The resolution was moved by Tarigami in the state assembly in September 2005.

The Centre has supported Omar's proposed surrender policy, and the PDP has also favoured the Union government's nod, saying it was a welcome gesture in tune with its agenda of reconciliation.

Omar, however, said the PDP had developed the habit of telling brazen lies in public while the BJP had the habit of opposing all
good things for the sake of opposition.

Reiterating that his government is committed to uphold human rights and punish those violating them, the chief minister said his administration would not allow a handful of hooligans to hold peace hostage in parts of Srinagar by acts of stone-pelting.