Under Fire For His Political Remarks, Jammu And Kashmir DGP RR Swain Issues Clarification

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police RR Swain on Wednesday said that his remarks about the mainstream parties in Kashmir “in a completely different context than the one we a discussing (about militant attacks in Jammu region)”. The top cop finds himself in the middle of a storm over his remarks at IIM Jammu that political parties in Jammu and Kashmir were hobnobbing with terrorists for political gains.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): Day after mainstream leaders in Jammu and Kashmir slammed Director General of Police Rashmi Rajan Swain over his political remarks, the top said his remarks were not aimed at any political party but he was “making diagnosis of a situation”.

DGP Swain is in the middle of a storm over his remarks during a function at IIM Jammu that political parties in Jammu and Kashmir were hobnobbing with terrorists for political gains.

Swain's statement drew flak from the political parties in Kashmir. Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti was the first to lash out at the police chief.

Mehbooba, who held a special presser on Tuesday, said the DGP was busy "fixing things politically" rather than doing his duty. The former CM also demanded Swain's sacking over the frequent militant attacks on army in Jammu region during his tenure.

Former minister and People's Conference president Sajad Lone and Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari also reacted to the DGP's remark and suggested that he should control the situation rather than make political comments.

Finding himself cornered from all sides, Swain, made a bid to clarify his remark against political parties.

While talking to a news outlet on Wednesday, Swain said he had made the comments “in a completely different context than the one we a discussing (about militant attacks in Jammu region)”.

"I was in an academic institution in Jammu. We were discussing how important is it to frame strategies, be it for management institutions or those institutions which are into designing their national security. So when you are designing any strategy you need to analyse as to where you need intervention and you really need to find out what exactly needs to be done. If you are treading the same path and expecting to reach a different destination, it is not certainly going to happen," he said.

"So, I didn't think it is aimed at any particular individual or any political party. What I was intending was to make was a diagnosis and an analysis that would help us reach......This is different subject altogether so I would request....I would put some kind of analogy... Let's say... some one would day why is the Indian police which is very different from any other police in the world.. the statements made before the police is not acceptable as evidence even though it is relevant," the DGP said.

He said that as a police leader, he “would go into analysis of the situation in which there is nothing individual about that”. To a question whether he was backtracking because of the political outrage, the DGP said, "Not at all. There is absolutely no backtracking. How did I backtrack? I am merely saying it is an introspection. I am introspecting for myself; same would be available for the media; same for religious leaders and same for academia."

Meanwhile, ADGP Law and Order, Vijay Kumar also reacted to the DGP's remarks saying the top cop's remarks were his personal opinion and Jammu and Kashmir Police was “impartial, professional and apolitical force”.