Srinagar
Former minister and chairman of the Peoples’ Conference Sajad Gani Lone on Thursday strongly denied that he had established contact with anyone in the national political and security establishment.
“I want to make it clear to my people that there is absolutely no question of me having contacted anyone in the national political or security establishment since I was jailed on August 5,” Sajad Lone stated in a statement.
Lone’s statement is the first statement issued by any detained political leaders who have been under prison since August 5.
“In fact, for the first 25 days of my incarceration I wasn’t even allowed to meet my own family and it was nearly a month’s period after my arrest that I met them for the first time. Also, when it came to my notice through credible reports in the sub-jail that the police intend to shift us outside the state on the 15th day of my incarceration, I had left clear instructions for my family to neither appeal nor press for my release under any circumstances. I also wrote a note to my family in which I spoke of how some personal matters, like the school fee of my sons, needed to be dealt with in my absence and nobody in my family was supposed to approach anyone apart from the courts under any circumstances,” he said.
“These news items and articles are deliberately fabricated and spread by a network of those who would go to any extent to cling on to power whether that be in the present political arrangement or in dispensations of the past. These individuals and groups have always aimed to belittle and malign the genuine, democratically elected political leadership in the Valley and have now stooped to the level of spreading malicious and slanderous lies in an attempt to further undermine us. I would like to explicitly deny both incidents ever having taken place and would not only quit politics but also never set foot on the sacred land of Kashmir if I am proven wrong,” he added.
He in a statement said that my father has spent nearly a decade in prison for his political beliefs and convictions. This is my third incarceration. I am the last person who can be cowed down by these tactics or by my continued imprisonment.
“We expect prestigious and credible publications like the National Daily in question to live up to their legacy of believing in and supporting the journalism of truth, integrity and honesty while upholding the morals and values the institution has come to be associated with. I am particularly appalled at the editors of the publication, for recklessly and willfully allowing publishing of such false and slanderous lies under them garb of independent journalism. I have, through my lawyers, sent a legal notice to the editors for allowing their publication to be used to spread slander and propaganda against me. I have also asked my lawyers to file a defamation suit against the particular writer as also the local daily from Jammu,” he said.
“My journey in politics has been one of unimaginable political and personal struggles against the odds of traditionalism and favoritism and I take pride in the fact that I have always upheld my ideological convictions. These tactics and attempts to malign me can’t and wont deter me,” said Sajad Lone in a statement.
