Logo

Logo

Mehbooba asks Modi government to initiate talks with Pakistan and Hurriyat

She said that BJP ran away from the government last year only because PDP remained consistently firm on its agenda and refused to sign on the dotted lines.

Mehbooba asks Modi government to initiate talks with Pakistan and Hurriyat

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti addresses a press conference in Srinagar on December 31, 2018. (Photo: IANS)

PDP chief and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday pleaded with the Modi government not to make Kashmir a theatre of war and declare armistice on the borders and initiate reconciliation with Pakistan and dialogue with Hurriyat leadership.

Mehbooba, who was interacting with several delegations in the Anantnag district of South Kashmir, put on India the onus for peace on the borders with Pakistan. She did not utter a word against Pakistan which was daily targeting civilian areas of Jammu and indulging in sniper attacks on Army soldiers and BSF jawans.

She said that instead of turning Kashmir into a theatre of war, the government of India must initiate reconciliation with Pakistan, dialogue with Hurriyat, and declare armistice on the borders.

Advertisement

The PDP president stated that the core agenda of her party has always been to facilitate a political process and not just to form a government.

“When for the first time PDP came to power in 2002, dialogue with the separatists was initiated. Prime Minister Vajpayee from Srinagar extended his hand of friendship to Pakistan and created history when he said that one can change friends but not neighbours. He even promised to resolve Kashmir within the ambit of humanity, opened the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote roads. There were also two rounds of dialogue between the Centre and the Hurriyat leaders and such confidence-building measures put the violence-infested Kashmir subtly back on the track,” Mehbooba said.

She added that when 2014 polls accorded a fractured mandate to all political groups of the state, PDP made an unpopular decision of forming the government with the BJP with a sole aim to get the state out of the era of uncertainty and chaos. “The party was hopeful that Modi would behave like Vajpayee but he didn’t and that was a letdown. When in November 2015, a rally was organized by the PDP for Modi, people had come on Mufti Sayeed’s call to listen. However, Modi didn’t rise to the occasion and things started falling apart,” Mehbooba said.

She said that BJP ran away from the government last year only because PDP remained consistently firm on its agenda and refused to sign on the dotted lines. Mehbooba remarked further that in spite of medley of internal troubles in the coalition, the PDP compelled the government of India to withdraw thousands of cases against the stone pelting youth and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was made to announce a unilateral ceasefire with Pakistan and offer dialogue with Hurriyat.

Mehbooba Mufti has cautioned the government of India that any tinkering with the special status of Jammu and Kashmir could turn the already strife-torn state into a veritable inferno and will bring more violence, chaos, and destruction. Mehbooba said that the emergence of PDP in the state was like bursting forth of a new revolution and the party, since its inception, has been striving for people’s dignity and honour on all fronts.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir, as part of the Republic, secured its unique position and same cannot in any way be contested in any court of law. “Article 35-A is a matter of life and death for us. No one has the authority to challenge the very identity of people of the state in any court across the world. It is high time that the central government should pass a direction, declaring Article 35-A off limits. This sword cannot dangle over our heads all the time,” Mehbooba said.

She said that those launching assaults on state’s integrity on multiple fronts shouldn’t live with the notion that they can any longer terrify people of Kashmir with such tactics.

Advertisement