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Sky, says Farooq, will be the limit to save India from Pak!

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Nuggets, pure, rhetorical nuggets of low-sense that make one wonder whether Dr Farooq Abdullah is the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir or the prime minister of India was what fell out of the gent's mouth at a recent press conference in Srinagar.

"We do not want war with anyone. But if we are attacked then we will respond effectively. The sky will be the limit to save our people and country," he announced, thus announcing his claim to decide war and peace for India.

"I am proud of my country and the bomb," the CM, undettered by the amused look on many a scribe's face, launched into how former prime minister I K Gujral had tried to bring peace. "His best efforts did not bear fruit because the proxy war continued."

Encouraged by his audience's attentiveness, Dr Abdullah also narrated the history of how Home Minister L K Advani came to announce a 'pro-active' policy in Kashmir. Accordingly, he had confronted Advani and told him a thing or two.

"They (Pakistanis) are slaughtering our innocent villagers. I told the Centre that enough is enough, and that we should show our strength. The pro-active policy was then finalised," the chief minister, er, well, revealed.

He said security forces have launched massive combing operations all over the state to flush out militants as part of the policy. "Forces have moved deep into jungles to flush out hiding militants," he confided to the media, "As per this new strategy, more troops are being deployed on the borders to stop infiltration. If we are able to bring down the infiltration to a trickle then we would have gained what we wanted."

Dr Abdullah said Pakistan Occupied Kashmir was a disputed territory and talks with Pakistan would be held as per the Shimla Agreement.

Laying international diplomacy aside for a moment, the chief minister took up a national cause. Namely, defence against the allegation that his government had financed noted filmmaker Muzaffar Ali's yet-to-be-completed film, Zooni. All that his men had done, he claimed was stand as guarantor for Ali to get a bank loan.

He denied Ali's allegation that he was not being provided adequate security by the state -- the film-maker had even complained to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi about it.

"However," Dr Abdullah 'clarified', "we have clarified everything."

The chief minister said the government would pay Rs 1 million to the film director of Mere Apne, who would shoot in the troubled state. "That will be a reward for the wide publicity the state would get because of the film," he said.

Asked whether the government would ban the Shahtoos shawl trade in Kashmir, the CM replied in the negative. The controversy had come to the fore following allegation that the shawls were being manufactured at the cost of antelopes.

"There is no proof that they are killing antelopes to make the shawls. I will not ban the trade and kill my people," he said.

And finally, after dealing with rumours that the Srinagar airport had been closed to prepare it for the Russian-made Sukhoi-30 fighter planes, he came to the everburning issue, the return of Kashmiri migrants. Which he dismissed in a sentence:

"I have always said they should return back to their homes!"

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