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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
The Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Gani Lone on Monday accused Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah and the Union government of engineering an attack on him on November 1, 2001 in Srinagar.
Lone made this allegation at a news conference held in Press Club of India in New Delhi on Monday morning.
"The attack on my residence seems to bear the signature of the state and the central government," Lone said in a press release handed out to media persons.
He described Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah as 'acting like a desperado who has run amock'.
"He is using the resources and powers of the state administration to harass or even eliminate all moderate elements keen on a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute," he said.
He welcomed the joint statement issued by the United States and Pakistan at the end of the meeting between the US President George W Bush and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
"We welcome the statement of US president. It talks of the settling the Kashmir issue, while keeping the wishes and aspirations of the people of Kashmir," he said.
He denied that he has siphoned off any money.
"There is a deliberate campaign going on to malign my reputation. I have said in my statement that the leader of Al Barq, who made this statement, was arrested by ISI and they recovered Rs 45 million from him," Lone alleged.
"I know some people in the media want to project me as one who has siphoned off the money. I have been under threat from militants and the ISI from across the border and the Indian intelligence agencies," he added.
When asked whether there is a nexus between the three he said, "It is for you to find this out. In 1996 a car bomb exploded outside my house. This was engineered by an officer posted in Jammu and Kashmir. I even know his name."
When asked to name the officer, Lone refused to divulge it.
He asked the India government and the Pakistan government to sit down and solve the Kashmir problem amicably and involve the Hurriyat conference in this process.
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