J&K Separatist, Banned Group's Leader Drew Pension, Increased Thrice: RTI

Ghulam Nabi Sumji, a pro-Pakistan hardliner and general secretary of the banned Hurriyat(G) in Jammu and Kashmir, continues to draw a pension of nearly Rs 60,000 per month as a former MLA, according to information received from an application filed under the RTI Act. Ghulam Nabi Sumji was also a close aide of the separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

The pension is being seen as double standards on the part of the Hurriyat leader, who quietly enjoyed perks and privileges funded by the government while spreading secessionist messages.

Ghulam Nabi Sumji went a step ahead by asking for more, according to the response received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. He filed applications seeking a revision of his pension and it was approved not once but thrice, with his monthly pension ballooning from around Rs 24,000 to Rs 60,000. He has been drawing this enhanced amount since April 2018.

Many have pointed out such leaders have been sending young people in Jammu and Kashmir down the wrong path while they themselves live comfortably.

"See how they continued to reap benefits from the very system they abused," former police chief SP Vaid.

Before becoming a separatist, Sumji was elected MLA on a Muslim United Front (MUF) ticket from Home Shalibugh, Bijbehara in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, and served from 1987 to 1989.

He resigned at the onset of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism to join the Hurriyat Conference, which was pro-Pakistan. In 2015, he wrote a "humble application" to the assembly secretary.

"Sir, with due respect I beg to submit that pension of ex-MLAs has been revised and the arrear dues have been released by the Act. It is therefore prayed that my increased pension along with arrear dues be released in my favour," Sumji wrote.

Orders were then issued to release his arrears and revise his pension under the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature Members' Pension (Amendment) Act.

It raised a much larger question about a long-standing modus operandi: spew venom against India and reject the political system in public, while availing every benefit of that very system in private.

If individuals associated with separatist politics can receive public-funded benefits and even secure revisions that more than double those benefits, the legal and policy framework need to be properly explained, experts have said.

"If public money is being paid to individuals who have openly opposed the Indian political system, the government owes the public transparency, accountability and a clear explanation," Roots in Kashmir spokesperson Amit Raina said.

"The country deserves answers, not chest-thumping. After all it is taxpayers' money. This can't be distributed to people who have hand soaked in blood."