Clarifying his 'JandK ministers paid' remark, former army chief General V.K. Singh on Tuesday said the money paid to Jammu and Kashmir politicians wasn't bribe, but to win the people's hearts.
"I would also state very categorically that all that I talked of when I said money was given to politicians or to NGOs was never for their political purpose, for their individual purpose, for lining their pockets, for bribes to them," General Singh told media here.
"It was meant solely and wholly for certain stability events which were organised by the intelligence units under the overall umbrella of 'Sadbhavana' to win the hearts and minds of people and to get people away from separatists propaganda, to get people away from separatists activities so they can ensure that they contribute towards the development of the state and support the government," he added.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde earlier today said the former chief should name the ministers to whom money had been given from a secret defence fund for social schemes.
"He should name the ministers to whom money has been given. We can probe if details are given," he said.
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Reacting to accusations that he had funded a Jammu and Kashmir politician to topple Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's government, General (Retd.) Singh on Monday said those who levelled these allegations were anti-nationals, as the army had to pay ministers in the border state "to bring people together
He told a news channel that "paying ministers" was nothing new in Jammu and Kashmir.
"It has been happening since independence and everybody would have known about this. It is not something invented by V K Singh. Funding ministers is to get people together in Kashmir," he said.
General Singh on Saturday launched an all out attack on the ruling UPA Government, and said he is targetted because of his forthrightness, the arms lobby and because people in the bureaucracy stopped getting money.
"I am being targeted because of my forthrightness. I am being targeted because of the arms lobby which started feeling that they cannot bribe people and palm off equipment that is not worth it. I am being targeted because people in the bureaucracy stopped getting the money they were getting from all these lobbies," Singh said.
"And I am being targeted because some people in the political circles feel that I am uniting the veterans who have not got a good deal even from the UPA Government," he added.
General Singh had dragged the government to court prior to his retirement, seeking a change of date of birth in the official records that would have given him an extra ten months in service and in office.
The former army chief is now in the midst of yet another controversy following a report that he had set up Technical Services Division, a secret intelligence unit, and misused secret funds to try and topple the Omar Abdullah Government, and to try and change the line of succession in the army's brass.
General Singh, who shared the dais at a rally in Rewari last week with the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, had earlier this year joined veteran social activist Anna Hazare in his crusade against corruption.
