VK Singh's claims embarrassing for India: Officials

Amid the growing chorus of voices demanding investigations into a report by an Army Board of Inquiry into payments made by a top secret Military Intelligence Unit set up by former Army chief VK Singh, reports suggested on Thursday that the Union government is inclined to investigate not just the report on the functioning of the Technical Support Division but also Singh’s claims that the Army has often paid politicians in Jammu & Kashmir. [caption id=“attachment_113462” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Former Army chief General VK Singh[/caption] The Indian Express and The Hindu both reported on Thursday that highly placed government officials had criticised the retired general’s statements as having done “enormous damage” to the country. The Indian Express report pointed to the diplomatic fallout of Singh’s claims that the Army has been paying politicians in Jammu & Kashmir ever since Independence. “Sources said that Gen Singh had targeted all chief ministers of Jammu & Kashmir by alleging that such funding has been underway since Independence – a chance for Pakistan to rake up the issue and also damage India’s case on cross-LoC violence,” the report says. The Hindu, quoting a government official on board the PM’s flight to Frankfurt where he spends a night before proceeding to New York for the UN meeting, says the credibility of India’s stand on the Kashmir dispute is damaged by the claims of the former Army chief. Singh had claimed that the Army’s payouts were meant to help maintain peace in the Valley. According to a report in the Hindustan Times , Singh’s statement is “in line with the Pakistani narrative of the situation in Kashmir — that India is keeping it under occupation against the will of the people, with the support of a handful of collaborators”. The hardline Hurriyat has already latched on to Singh’s claims, the report added. The report said that with Manmohan Singh set to meet Pakistani counterpart Nawaz SHarif on Sunday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the retired general’s claims are an embarrassment to the Government of India.