Former Army Chief Gen V K Singh Monday claimed that the Army has paid all ministers in Jammu and Kashmir since Independence, and that everyone in the system, including the Defence Ministry, have been in the know.
Speaking to Times Now's Arnab Goswami, the retired officer claimed that the Army has been giving money to ministers to "ensure that the people are kept together", and also confirmed that the Army's controversial Technical Support Division (TSD) transferred money to an NGO based in the state.
"The Army transfers money to all the ministers in Jammu and Kashmir... there are various things to be done. As part of the stabilising factor in Jammu and Kashmir, as part of the activities to be organised," Singh told the TV channel.
Asked if all ministers are paid, Singh said, "maybe not all the ministers but certain ministers and people who are given a certain sum to get a particular thing done. That job involves bringing stability to a particular area".
Asked if Chief Minister Omar Abdullah knew about these money transfers, Singh said, "If as a chief minister you do not know this, you are not running the state".
On being asked whether the TSD paid Jammu and Kashmir minister Ghulam Hassan Mir from secret funds — as alleged by the Army probe — Singh said that "if such a possibility is there I am sure there must be a reason for a particular transaction or number of transactions to this person".
He also called Mir a unifying factor in Jammu and Kashmir and a nationalist.
The Indian Express had reported that a secret Army panel probe into the functioning of the TSD had found, among others, that Mir was paid Rs 1.19 crore to engineer a change of government in the state.
Singh claimed that money was paid to ministers as many things had to be done.
"There are various things to be done as part of the stabilising factor in Jammu and Kashmir. Who funded the KPL?" he asked, referring to the Kashmir Premier League cricket tournament. "Was it the Jammu and Kashmir government that funded it? Was it the honourable chief minister who funded it? It was the Army. Why was there a requirement for the Army to fund it is a different issue all together."
Asked if he knew all the instances of money being paid in the state, Singh said Army Chiefs "do not do micro managing. They give a task and this task is given to various commanders and the money is routed through various sources. Certain would be for perception management, certain would be for intelligence operations".
Asked if money being paid does not amount to interference in a democratically elected government, Singh said that it does not "if a civilian government is unable to get the people together..."
He also claimed that money was being paid to ministers in J&K since Independence.
"It is nothing new, for the last so many years since Independence of this country, this has been going on and has been the practice. This is a system to ensure that measures are put in place to bring harmony...it is nothing new," Singh said.
Singh said that the TSD could have paid money to an NGO in Jammu and Kashmir, as reported by The Indian Express, but claimed that it would be for unifying reasons. Singh said he was not aware when asked if the NGO was connected to YES Kashmir, a controversial organisation that has been accused of filing a court case to scuttle the appointment of Lt Gen Bikram Singh as the Army Chief.
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