Kashmir Congress candidate calls daughter 'liability'

SRINAGAR: Congress's Ganderbal candidate for the forthcoming assembly elections, Mohammad Yousuf Bhat, committed a blooper declaring his daughter a "liability" in his sworn declaration. The section in nomination paper marked for "liability" normatively refers to whether or not a candidate owes anything of monetary value to any individual, state or organization.

However, Bhat perhaps confused "liability" with "responsibility". And far from admitting to an honest error, he tried to defend himself saying daughters were indeed a "bojh' or "liability". In doing so he turned his error in the declaration form into a statement reeking of patriarchy. Also, in the process, Yousuf also brought into focus his movable and immovable assets, which he claimed were a mere Rs 11 lakh.

"I have one unmarried, unemployed daughter and a working son. Since I have to take care of her wedding and other expenses, she is indeed a liability on me," Bhat said. He added, "My daughter is dearer to me than my son but the fact is she is not earning, and as such I have to arrange for everything for her till she is married.

But, the episode would also remind many of Bhat's active presence in chief minister Omar Abdullah's residence where the body of a National Conference worker, Haji Mohammed Yousuf Shah, was found on September 29, 2011, dead under mysterious circumstances.

In fact Bhat, a former NC activist, had been avoiding the media ever since reporters began chasing him for details of the story involving Haji's body inside Omar's official residence. He was then seen as an intermediary settling a payment dispute between Haji Yousuf and another NC member Salam Reshi. A subsequent one-man commission headed by retired Supreme Court judge, HS Bedi, had absolved Omar and all those present in the house when Haji's body was found of any wrong doing.

Bhat this month got a Congress ticket and is contesting against Sheikh Ashraf Jabber of NC and Qazi Afzal of PDP. Omar Abdullah was elected from Ganderbal as MLA in 2008 polls but he preferred to fight elections from two other constituencies, Beerwah in Budgam and Sonwar in Srinagar.