Nothing to fear about BJP government: Syed Ali Shah Geelani

SRINAGAR: Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani today said there is nothing to fear about the BJP government at the Centre as there is not an iota of difference in the policies pursued by the current dispensation and the preceding regime. The only difference between the two governments is the way of talking, the hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman told a seminar at his hyderpora residence here.

"(Former Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh was soft-spoken while the new leader ( Narendra Modi) talks tough," he said. "There is nothing to fear about the BJP government as there is not an iota of difference in the policies of the two (BJP and Congress) parties," he said.

Mainstream political parties like National Conference, PDP and Peoples Conference, headed by Sajad Gani Lone, were all same, he said. Geelani flayed Lone for participating in the elections. "He (Lone) cannot be looked at differently. His father Abdul Gani Lone used to wholeheartedly work for the campaign of boycott of elections."