Named in FIR, Pak envoy Jilani lands in trouble

A day after Delhi police arrested two Hurriyat Conference activists outside the Pakistan High Commission with ‘‘money meant for Ka...

A day after Delhi police arrested two Hurriyat Conference activists outside the Pakistan High Commission with ‘‘money meant for Kashmiri separatists’’, Indo-Pak relations seemed headed for a new low. The Home Ministry informed the Ministry of External Affairs that the activities of Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner Jalil Abbas Jilani were incompatible with his diplomatic status.

The case against Jilani grew stronger after he was named in the FIR lodged in connection with the arrests outside the High Commission. Giving it more meat was the preliminary statement of Anjum Zamruda Habib, the detained Hurriyat activist.

Dar money ours, not Habib’s: Hurriyat chief Bhat
• Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat denies any ‘‘direct or indirect’’ connection with Rs 3 lakh recovered from Anjum Zamruda Habib.
• Rs 2 lakh recovered from Dar belongs to the Hurriyat. ‘‘It was our money and was for routine office expenses.’’
• Hurriyat opened Delhi office to ‘‘communicate with people of India, intellectuals and politicians.’’ Names former Prime Minister I K Gujral, ex-Home Minister the late Indrajit Gupta and Kuldeep Nayar as men who graced the opening of the office.
• Hurriyat might close Delhi office because of ‘‘this pressure from the government.”

When she appeared before the POTA special court in Patiala House, Habib told special judge S N Dhingra that she was handed Rs 3 lakh in the Pakistan mission as nazrana (token money) for Abdul Gani Bhat, the Hurriyat chairman. She did not, however, name Jilani.

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Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, who was said to have taken serious note of the developments, was to speak to External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha. Confirming that the Home Ministry had sent a report, the MEA spokesperson said it was being ‘‘given full and detailed consideration.’’

Brushing aside Pakistani denials as ‘‘expected,’’ the spokesperson pointed out that ‘‘Pakistan has been denying its proven sponsorship of cross-border terrorism for the last 18 years.’’

In Islamabad, Indian Charge D’ Affaires Sudhir Vyas was summoned to the foreign office and given the Pakistan point of view though they did not lodge an official protest.

In New Delhi, Jilani told the official Pakistan news agency that this was a ‘‘malafide vilification campaign launched in the Indian media against the Pakistan High Commission.’’

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Rejecting the charge that two Hurriyat activists had received money from the High Commission, Jilani said: ‘‘Such planted stories are a figment of imagination of Indian security agencies and part of the same strategy that India has adopted for the last few years to malign Pakistan. This anti-Pakistan tirade is in contravention of all diplomatic norms and practice.’’

Earlier, at the crowded Patiala House courts, Shabir Ahmed Dar, chief of Kashmir Awareness Bureau who was arrested along with Habib, told special judge Dhingra that Rs 2 lakh recovered from him was handed by the Hurriyat for running the office.

Habib and Dar, who have been charged under POTA, were remanded to 10 days police custody.

Chief public prosecutor D P Aggarwal said the police special cell had specific information on Habib. ‘‘She went into the Pakistan High Commission empty-handed but returned with a bag which contained money,’’ he said. The special cell also recovered a diary which contained names of terrorist organsiations and the amount to be given to them.

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The prosecutor, accompanied by special cell assistant commissioner L N Rao, said that the cell had made crucial recoveries from the Kashmir Awareness Bureau in Malviya Nagar: ‘‘A computer, audio cassettes of anti-India propaganda and video cassettes.’’

There was also a list of terrorists lodged in Tihar, including names of Pakistanis with details about their jail numbers.

When the judge allowed the two accused to speak, Habib said that the police had asked her to write down names of organisations. Without naming Jilani, she said she was handed the money and told ‘‘Bhat sahab ko salaam karne ke liye.’’ ‘‘I went there to give a book Independent Survey of Elections, Civil Society of India.’’

Shabir Ahmed Dar said he had nothing to do with terrorists. As chief of the KAB, his work involved interacting with the media and embassies. The judge asked him, ‘‘Did you find no other embassy but the Pakistani embassy to work with?’’ and he got back, saying ‘‘No, I have also interacted with the First Secretary, Political, America.’’