Bulletproof vehicles: Omar, Sajad hits out govt for withholding clearance

Srinagar, Jun 4: Former chief minister Omar Abdullah and ex-minister Sajad Gani Lone have lashed out at the J&K administration for withholding clearance of their private bulletproof vehicles.
The outburst by Omar and Lone comes a day after a BJP municipal councilor was killed by militants at Tral in south Kashmir district of Pulwama.
In a series of tweets, Mr Lone, who is the chairman of Peoples Conference (PC), said that his request for clearance to a privately bought bullet proof has been lying with the police from last three months. “Post August 5 there is a perception that the political class in J&K is thugs and the officer class, including the police, has actually begun to believe in it,” he said.
Agreeing with the Peoples Conference chairman, Abdullah, who is the vice president of National Conference (NC), said that NC also wanted to order two bullet proof vehicles for its senior Kashmir based office bearers who are being denied proper protection out of spite. “The permission request is collecting dust on some desk in the administration,” Abdullah wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.
“Just saying. M not complaining. So much about security you talk after someone dies. We know how you use security as a tool. I m supposed to be Z plus category. Have brought a private vehicle, bullet proofed it. Is lying at the factory on Chandigarh. Why, because clearance not given for 3 months. The ADG security has not put his signature on an approval. This is with someone who apparently has Z plus. What would u do with lesser mortals with lesser levels of security,” Mr Lone tweeted.
“Problem is not all yours. Post August 5 there is a perception that political class in J&K are thieves thugs etc and the officer class including the police have actually begun to believe in it. Politicians are supposed to be dispensable – politically, socially and now physically,” he said.
He said the remedy has to come from the union government and the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha. “They have will have to convey the indispensability of political class in a democracy,” he said.
Lone said the truth is that if today political class in J&K can be dispensable what stops it from being dispensable across India sometime in the future. “Enough of this childish behaviour. Please make the bureaucracy police or civil answerable. Let heads roll if heads are rolling physically,” he added.