Jammu and Kashmir Vichar Manch on Monday asked the Centre to register sedition case against writer Arundhati Roy for her controversial remarks on Kashmir.
"Roy might not be afraid of the case or it will not hurt her. But, definitely a case against her will deter others from joining separatist forces', Vichar Manch president Ajay Bharti told PTI here.
Bharti was here to address a seminar on "Kashmir issue" here, organised by pro-RSS cultural forum Bharatheeya Vichar Kendram. Objecting to Roy's remarks on Kashmir, Bharti said that she had some self-interest in making such a statement. "Her remark reflected the feeling of only a small section of the society and she was trying to ignore the ground reality," he said.
People of the state were hurt by her views. The little respect she earned had been lost, he said. A person like Roy should have never said "untruth" like this, he added.
Bharti alleged that Centre was hesitating to take case against Roy on the pretext that it would internationalise the Kashmir issue and would give a bad name to India.
"This is a lame excuse. Recently Wikileaks exposed the role played by US Army in New York. Similarly, China suppressed the Tianamen Square uprising since it was directed against the state. Did the reputation of these countries suffer on account of these?", he asked.
On appointment of interlocutors on Kashmir issue led by eminent journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, Bharti said the effort of the panel would prove to be "futile."
"They will not be able to provide any solution to the issues in Kashmir. They have been asked to evolve a mutually agreeable formula by talking to various sections of people of Kashmir. But, the panel members were talking more to media than to people of the state," he said.
"The Centre had only given a job for the members of the panel. Instead of listening to people they started talking. That gives an impression that they are not here to find a solution, but to buy time," Bharti said.
'We suspect the very intention of Centre for forming such a panel. The Centre is trying to buy time on account of a variety of reasons like the visit of US President Barack Obama. That was the reason why the panel was boycotted by the people,” he added.