Dr Farooq gets angry with KZINE
NC President May Like To Enlighten Us How Sagar And Sagar Have Amassed Such Huge Properties
National Conference President and former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah is angry with KZINE over the land grab expose of his colleague and party general secretary Ali Mohd Sagar. In response to the cover story titled The Jagirs of Ali Sagar in Edition 10 of KZINE, Dr Farooq sent the following message: “Sagar sold his house in old town and then was able to make this house. Don’t spread lies for BJP”.
Dr Farooq’s anger following the expose on his senior party colleague is understandable, but it is unfounded. It is unfortunate that a political leader of the stature of Dr Farooq Abdullah should resort to mud-slinging in order to hide the corrupt practices of his colleague. There are two parts of Dr Farooq’s short response. KZINE is morally and ethically duty bound to respond to his allegation with facts and evidence. As for the property of Ali Mohd Sagar, Dr Farooq Abdullah’s statement is completely misleading for two reasons. One, Sagar has not sold his ancestral property in Nawabazar. He is still the legitimate owner of that property and carries out all his political activities from the same house. Second, KZINE had raised questions about the legal status of the premium land purchased/occupied by Ali Mohd Sagar adjoining Srinagar International Airport. The KZINE story had highlighted that Sagar has made a grand residential accommodation over land measuring 3 kanals and 18 marlas on Ghair Mumkin land. The plot is registered in the name of Mst. Saleema, wife of Ali Mohd Sagar, resident of Nawabazar, Srinagar, under Khasra number 1015. With his stature and clout, Dr Farooq has access to any information that he desires in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. If he so desires, he can easily get the status of the land verified in revenue records – Ghair Mumkin.
KZINE also highlighted that Sagar has further encroached upon Ghair Mumkin land measuring about 6 marlas facing the airport road. Is Dr Farooq Abdullah upset about why has truth been revealed by KZINE? On a personal front, Dr Farooq greatly values truthfulness and honesty. He may appreciate that Ali Mohd Sagar is accountable to the people for the wealth that he amasses illegally and unlawfully, and for his land-grabs. In Edition 10 of KZINE, we also revealed that Sagar owns huge benami property along the Nowgam-Lasjan bypass near Padshahi Bagh. This is registered in the name of some distant relative. Senior revenue officials told KZINE that both benami properties include encroachment of state land, and wrong entries have been made in the revenue records.
KZINE had also revealed that Salman Sagar is in possession of 40 kanals of land, which includes state land at Charar e Sharief. Sagar also has a property at Chanpoora Budgam, which houses the district godowns of Food Corporation of India (FCI). When and how did the Sagars amass this wealth? Perhaps Dr Farooq Abdullah may like to comment on this too.
How About Ali Sagar’s Share In the Zakoora Property?
Further, because Dr Farooq Abdullah defends his party colleague, he may choose to talk about what is the total share of Ali Mohd Sagar in 900 kanals of property owned at Zakoora by Sheikh Hassan, a businessman of Khanyar. According to sources, Sheikh Hassan’s sons Sheikh Aslam and Sheikh Farooq own more than 900 kanals of land at Zakoora. Ali Mohd Sagar is the silent partner. A huge construction is coming up on the land in question for the establishment of a high profile educational institute. According to locals, Ali Mohd Sagar is an equal partner in the property. Because he didn’t want to be named, there is no mention in the revenue records. When contacted, the revenue official of the area told KZINE that in black and white, Sagar has no involvement in the revenue records for this property. The revenue official admitted that in the department, they have heard from the locals that Sagar is the silent partner of Sheikh Brothers in the property. It was immediately not known in whose name Sagar’s share is registered.
It does not behove Dr Abdullah to condone the corrupt practices of his party colleague. KZINE states the truth – the inconvenient truth, and we shall continue to do so. Kashmir’s politicians have 75 years of expertise in peddling lies and making people believe it as the gospel truth. In angling for power, they have aligned with far right religious extremists on both sides of the divide. Dr Farooq’s words remind us of an oversight on our part, though. “Don’t spread lies for BJP,” he said. KZINE must equally focus on the wrongdoings of the politicians in Jammu, so that Dr Farooq and others do not accuse us of any favour towards the BJP. Noted, Dr Farooq.
