Govt using agencies to silence dissent: CPI(M) leader on ED questioning Omar Abdullah

The BJP-led Union government is using agencies like the Enforcement Directorate to silence dissenting voices, CPIM leader M Y Tarigami on Thursday said after NC leader Omar Abdullah was questioned by the central probe agency in Delhi. Tarigami said, The government is using agencies like ED to silence the dissenting voices.

The BJP-led Union government is using agencies like the Enforcement Directorate to silence dissenting voices, CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami on Thursday said after NC leader Omar Abdullah was questioned by the central probe agency in Delhi. The ED questioned Abdullah on Thursday in connection with the purchase of a building by J&K Bank some 12 years ago when he was Jammu and Kashmir chief minister. After spending more than five hours at the ED office in response to summons sent last week, Abdullah told reporters that he had not been accused of anything and that he had ''answered them as much as I could''. Tarigami said, ''The government is using agencies like ED to silence the dissenting voices. Earlier it was Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and wife of late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, now Omar Abdullah. ''Digging up old cases is nothing but political vendetta. The BJP has been in power for eight years at the Centre and has ruled Jammu and Kashmir either in coalition or solo for several years now. Where were they for so long?''.

He said it was ironic that those leaders who ''shake hands with BJP become squeaky clean'' and those who start raising the voice of people are ''hounded by using agencies''.

He said these actions are further widening the gap between people of Jammu and Kashmir and the political class in Delhi. ''The government should halt this kind of activities forthwith'', he said. He said it seems that the BJP is preparing ground for fulfilling it's agenda in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the elections by silencing the opposition voice.