Excelsior Correspondent
RAJOURI/POONCH, Apr 7: Reacting to the BJP’s call for scrapping the Article 370 the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) patron, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said the article is non-negotiable, irrevocable and those talking about its abrogation are ignorant about the constitutional position of the State and are misleading people of the country.
Addressing large public rallies at Rajouri and Surankot today, Mufti Mohd Sayeed strongly criticized Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi for backtracking from his earlier statement in which he had said in Jammu that ‘he would follow Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s policy on Kashmir’, Mufti said this is not the way to ‘start a new chapter’ in the country which Modi usually talks about.
“Article 370 provides the mechanism for a constitutional relationship between the State and rest of the country and it cannot be abrogated without bringing into question the fundamentals of that relationship,” he added.
“It is an article of faith which is non-negotiable and irrevocable” said Mufti while commenting on the BJP manifesto released today. Mufti said the PDP will resist any attempt at dilution of the state’s special position guaranteed by the constitution.
He said by reviving the old rhetoric the BJP is simply negating the policies of Mr Vajpayee and such a policy has everything in it to hurt the sensibilities of the people of J&K and prospects of reducing the trust deficit it suffers with rest of the country.
“Mr Vajpayee reached out to the people of J&K and had vowed to resolve the Kashmir issue under the ambit of insaniyat (humanity),” he said adding Modi’s speeches in Jammu would look like mere lip service to Vajpayee’s statesmanship in the light of his party’s manifesto.
Mufti said it was essential for any aspirant leader of the country to be inclusive and accommodative both on home and external fronts. “If Modi has a vision for India then he can’t keep Pakistan out of that as that country has to be taken on board to realize a permanent peace in the region”.
He said Mr Vajpayee had reached out to Pakistan even in the wake of Kargil and Parliament attacks which set a new agenda of peace and resolution, something that BJP must emulate if Kashmir has to be resolved.
Mufti said by reviving issues of Article 370 and ‘Ram Mandir’ the BJP could risk destabilization in the society which a country of India’s diversity could never afford. “For a leader who aspires to be India’s Prime Minister it is essential to show respect to other’s point of view and introduce elements that connect people rather than achieving the reverse”, he added.
Mufti said PDP is going to the national level not about making alliances or to be in power, but our agenda is to make the Parliament of India a forum for representing the J&K issue and issues of J&K for debate and dialogue.
He said the trust deficit that exists today has been created because National Conference has not been able to use the Parliament as a forum for articulating the aspirations, highlighting the grievances and voicing the worries of the people of J&K and the PDP wants to change the national mindset by involving different shades of public and political opinion in and outside the Parliament. Mufti said PDP is the only party contesting elections with a specific agenda, vision and roadmap for development, prosperity, economic stability and peace for the entire region.
Party’s candidate for Jammu-Poonch Yashpal Sharma, Ch. Zulafkar Ahmad MLA, Ch Hussain Ali Wafa, Nizamudin Khatana, Bharat Bhushan, Ab Qayoom Dar,Ab Hameed Manhas, Muzaffar Baji, Ch. Qammer, Surinder Choudhry, Haji Taj Khan, Ahsan Mirza and others were present.
On this occasion senior Congress leader Abdul Gani Kohli and several NC leaders from Rajouri and Surankot also joined PDP.
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