Lashing out at the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, for trying to brazen out the accusations against him in Haji Yusuf case and passing the buck of his own misdeeds onto others Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)Thursday said no matter how ‘clean imaged’ he may try to present himself Omar Abdullah will always stand out in history as the main accused in the sensational case.Is it not a fact that Haji Yousuf was summoned by Omar Abdullah himself to his Gupkar residence to settle some murky money dealings involving the first family?” party general secretary Mohammad Dilawar Mir said in a statement here. He said that Omar by acting as judge and jury in a case involving serious corruption charges around Dr Farooq Abdullah led everyone to believe that he had acted as the proverbial hangman as well since only within hours of his ‘inquest’ the trusted family confidante Haji Yusuf was found dead.
Mir said instead of following the systemic procedures by involving the concerned institutions Omar Abdullah called a person to his residence to seek the account of dirty money collected from party aspirants in lieu of MLC and ministerial berths, which will never be erased from the family history of Abdullah household. He said Omar Abdullah instead of submitting himself to investigation in view of a mountain of evidence provided by him in a newspaper interview short circuited the course of law to hush up the case. “If anyone else was involved in the crime as insinuated by the chief minister in his Handwara speech, what stopped him from allowing an investigation after proper registration of a case?” Mir said.
Mir said in view of the evidence about funds worth crores having been collected from at least two party men for mandates there was always a case against the party leadership for corruption, but the mysterious death of Haji Yusuf made it only more serious as for the first time a chief minister’s person had been named in such a criminal activity. He said the case is still before the highest court of the country and the eye witnesses in it have deposed on record through electronic media the graphic account of how a hale and hearty Yusuf came out of the CM residence in a serious condition vomiting blood. “By trying to drag the name of PDP, Omar seems to have only given a vent to his guilty conscience as he knows Haji Yusuf was denied justice,” added Mir.
He said by all accounts the death of Haji Yousuf was linked to money and serves as the worst example of political corruption patronized by the NC leadership from last eight decades in the state and Omar Abdullah will have to answer for all his omissions and commissions and serious corruption charges against him. The case resulted in complete dilution of the prestige, dignity and moral authority of chief minister’s institution in the state and it will need immense effort by his successors to restore it to some extent Mir said and added the anarchy prevailing in the state at present is a direct result of this erosion of authority at highest level.
Mir said the PDP would welcome an independent probe into all allegations of corruption across political lines but given the scale of loot prevailing under the present dispensation such an offer from the opposition is unlikely to make any impact. He said instead of misleading people to use RTI for seeking information on political rivals why doesn’t the chief minister muster courage to order investigation into the allegations he is making every day along with the favorite ‘Emptying Treasury’ declaration?
Mir said Omar Abdullah knows that he has helped accelerate the process of NC’s decline and in utter frustration he invents new theories every day. He said with few exceptions all his colleagues in the cabinet have faced serious charges of corruption and because of his the finger of suspicion against him in Haji Yusuf case the chief minister is unable to do anything except being dictated terms of surrender for a hundred more days of luxury. “In the process the institutions of the state have been seriously damaged, which could have long term repercussions, Mir said. (CNS)