Kick out Pakistani envoy, arrest Sayeed, demands Shiv Sena

Mumbai, March 11 (IANS) The Shiv Sena on Wednesday demanded the arrest of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, terming him as the "godfather" of separatists, and kicking out the Pakistani envoy for talking with separatist elements.

"The separatist elements in Kashmir have now got a 'godfather' in Sayeed and they have become stronger," the Sena said in an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana, in the wake of the recent release of hardline separatist Masrat Alam.

It said separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani met Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit and then announced that "all charges against Masrat Alam were false" and that "Pakistan's role in Kashmir would be important".

The Sena expressed concern that by all this, Geelani "has directly challenged India over the Kashmir issue".

"He (Basit) sits in New Delhi and meets separatists, and asks them to continue fighting. He deserved to be kicked on his rear and thrown out. But, do we have such guts?" the Sena asked.

"The BJP's coalition partner, PDP has a mindset that further complicates instead of resolving the situation there, that is the apprehension," it added.

"Whatever is happening in Kashmir is not in the interest of the country. Do anything but don't push the country into a ditch. Don't be a party to this crime against the country," the edit said.