NCP President Farooq Abdullah accuses PDP-BJP of communalising bureaucracy

JAMMU: National Conference President Farooq Abdullah today alleged that the PDP-BJP government was making attempts to communalise the bureaucracy and said that polarisation may lead to dismemberment of Jammu and Kashmir state which has homogenous character.

"So long they (PDP-BJP) were dividing people on communal, caste, regional and sub-regional lines and now they have crossed limits of decency and prudence by communalising the administration, which has largely been neutral in character and people friendly in nature," he said while addressing workers at Mandi in the border Poonch district.

Abdullah, accompanied by Provincial President Devender Singh Rana, is currently on a four-day tour of the border belt of Poonch and Rajouiri.

Abdullah said officers were being picked up to man key assignments not on the basis of their administrative acumen or suitability but taking their religious affiliations into consideration.

"This is highly alarming trend, fraught with the danger of polarising the character of our apolitical administration," he said and warned the coalition partners to desist from such "sinister" attempts.

"The state has never gone through a government which lacked basic administrative acumen and political will to take each segment of society along," he observed.

The opposition leader also alleged "governance deficit" and sought immediate rollback on the prices of diesel and petrol announced by the state government, saying the increase may further hit the common man, as the freight, fare and prices of essentials may go up.