Srinagar, Sept 21 (KDC): The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has launched a scathing attack on Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone, accusing him of misusing central agencies to settle political and personal scores in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement issued to media, PDP Youth Vice President Najmu Saqib alleged that Sajad Lone “acted as the chief architect of NIA raids in Kashmir” post-2019, targeting political opponents and ordinary citizens alike.
“From Engineer Rashid to Zahoor Watali, Shahid-ul-Islam, Ayaz Akbar, Masrat Alam and Ameer Jammat-e-Islami, all became casualties of his misguiding NIA and investigating agencies for settling personal family hawala transactions,” Saqib said.
He further accused Lone of “strangulating democracy by weaponising institutions, intimidating political parties, and coercing loyalty,” adding that the damage inflicted on Jammu and Kashmir’s democratic fabric “cannot be erased.”
The PDP leader also alleged Lone’s involvement in what he described as a “cover-up” in a cross-border narco-smuggling case, terming it a “shameful act of misusing institutions for political expediency.”
On Lone’s recent criticism of Mehbooba Mufti for writing to the Union Home Minister over Yasin Malik’s case, Saqib questioned his silence on the matter. “Why is Sajad Lone perturbed? Does he not want Yasin Malik to be released? Or is he hoping for his death sentence so that the JKLF legacy passes on to his wife, Asma Khan Lone?”
Saqib accused Lone of “hypocrisy, doublespeak and opportunism,” claiming that his sudden claims of moral high ground “reek of selective conscience.”
“When Sarjan Barkati was slapped with FIRs, why did Sajad Lone not resign as a minister? Why the selective conscience now?” the PDP leader asked.
The PDP statement concluded that Sajad Lone, once a beneficiary of BJP’s patronage, now stands “completely exposed before the people of Kashmir.”
