New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that the government in Jammu and Kashmir, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a partner, isn't a priority for the Centre.
He was talking to reporters in New Delhi in the wake of the controversy over the release of separatist leader Masarat Alam by the J-K government last week.
The minsiter said that the government will not compromise with the security of the country which is a priority for the Centre. He also said the Centre is not satisfied with J-K government report on Masarat Alam's release and sought clarification.
The Centre has been pushed on the back foot over this issue with the opposition seeking an explanation on the issue in Parliament. This led to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi clarifying on Monday that the Centre was not consulted on the matter.
On Tuesday, opposition parties stepped up pressure on the government over reports that the J-K government was planning to release 800 more separatists and sought to know if the state's Governor has mentioned this in his report to the Centre.
After Naresh Agarwal (Samajwadi Party) and others raised the issue in Rajya Sabha, finance minister Arun Jaitley said the government was ready to respond to any specific case brought to its notice.
Agarwal also wanted to know whether the Centre could give an assurance that no more separatists will be released by the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government in J-K.
Rajeev Shukla (Congress) also sought to know if the orders for Alam's release were signed by the governor and if they were issued when the state was under President's rule.
AIADMK members claimed 10,000 separatist prisoners are about to be released in Jammu and Kashmir.
Arun Jaitley said home minister Rajnath Singh had on Monday made it absolutely clear that he had certain reservations about the report received from the state government on the release of one separatist and had sought more information.
Maintaining that the government will "find out and give response" if a specific case was given, he said "let a notice be given with athentic facts. The House cannot be media-driven".
The letters accessed by NDTV show that the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government, which took power in Jammu and Kashmir on March 1, had no direct role in the separatist's release.
This contradicts the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who on Monday said that the state government led by his ally had not consulted his government. "I share the opposition's aakrosh (anger)," he said in Parliament.
In a letter on February 4, the state's Home Secretary Suresh Kumar told the Jammu District Magistrate that an order detaining the separatist under the Public Safety Act had become void as it had not been confirmed in time by the state Home Department.
A month later on March 4, three days after the PDP-BJP government took power, the Jammu district magistrate wrote to the police saying Alam's preventive detention had "not been approved by the government" and he should be released.
"It amounts to misleading the house. Government must present true facts in the house," said BSP leader Mayawati.
Meanwhile, PDP has said that the J-K govt will abide by the directives of the courts on the issue of release of political prisoners in the state.
