Imprisoned Hurriyat leader Altaf Ahmad Shah said that the allegations on the youth president of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for funding the 2016 civilian uprising is “ridiculous statement … an attempt at his character assasination”.
In a telephonic conversation with his wife from Tihar Jail, New Delhi, Shah expressed anger and anguish over the news and denied the allegation of taking 5 crore rupees from Waheed Para to keep the 2016 civilian going.
As per a statement by the family, Shah said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was contradicting their previous claims. “They are well aware that the charges stand no ground in the court. Fabricated charge sheets of thousands of pages cannot be proven,” he said. “The delaying tactics of the state are well known. We encourage a fruitful dialogue between Kashmir, India, and Pakistan and support any steps taken to solve the dispute peacefully.”
The NIA had summoned Parra a day after he announced his nomination for the District Developmental Council (DDC) elections. He was later arrested in the case of suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh and militant Naveed Babu case. Though he was bailed out by a special NIA court, he was arrested soon after by CID.
In July 2016, civilians rose in months-long protest after the government forces killed Burhan Wani, a Hizbul Mujahideen commander. In a chargesheet filed by the NIA later, the agency claimed that Parra had given 5 crore rupees to Hurriyat to keep Kashmir on boil.
The PDP’s chief and the former chief minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, had said that it was a ridiculous claim to say that her party leader, Waheed Para gave money to keep 2016 civilian uprising alive.
Responding to the recent media reports that PDP youth wing president Waheed Para had given Rs 5 crore to Hurriyat leader’s son to fan the fire in 2016 summer unrest, Mehbooba said that how could Waheed do it when his own party was in power.
“How would have we wanted to keep the pot boiling, wouldn’t that destabilize PDP? Isn’t this ridiculous claim,” she asked.
