NEW DELHI: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti today said the ruling PDP-BJP alliance in Jammu & Kashmir has got off to a very turbulent start, but during the last two months the BJP’s understanding of Kashmir has improved and the party is now much more aware and appreciative of the complexities of the situation.
In a television interview, asked if the PDP’s understanding of the BJP as well as the mainstream view of Kashmir has also similarly improved, Ms Mufti insisted that the PDP had always understood India’s mainstream parties and mainstream opinion. It was the other way round that there was a perception gap or problem.
Appearing on the Headlines Today programme to The Point : to mark two months of the PDP-BJP alliance government on May 1, Mehabooba, when asked whether the trust levels between the PDP and BJP have improved since the first of march, when the alliance government was formed, or diminished, seemed to suggest that they were very much the same.
Speaking about separatist leader Masarat Alam, she said he had to be arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for two reasons. Firstly, he had eulogised Hafiz Saeed (chief of Pakistan-basd Jama’at-ud-Da’wah involved in Mumbai terror attacks) and, therefore, crossed a red line. She suggested this was offensive behaviour.
Secondly, his activities were threatening the coming tourist season which is critical for Kashmir’s economy. There was, therefore, an economic reason also for his being held under the PSA.
She defended the use of this Act which, when in opposition in March 2011, she had called â black spot on the country’s democratic system.
Ms. Sayeed suggested that Alam had forced the government to use this Act rather than the normal criminal justice system.
Speaking about Khalid Muzaffar Wani , she accepted and, additionally, said she had proof that he had visited his brother, Burhan, an acknowledged militant with 2 or 3 others and perhaps taken biryani to feed him. However, she insisted this was an innocent act by a brother, possibly under pressure from his family.
She said it was wrong to view this as a meeting with a terrorist. In the eyes of the Wani family Burhan was an innocent son and not a terrorist and, therefore, Khalid was not meeting a terrorist but his brother. This was her ground for disputing the army’s claim that Khalid was an over ground worker who also tried to get 3 other youth recruited by the militants.
However, for the first time, Mehbooba accepted that if there was a law against meeting terrorists Khalid could be punished under that law. But killing him was not acceptable.
Speaking about the apology her father had suggested the army should offer for Khalid Waniâ’s killing and which was not forthcoming, Mehbooba suggested the absence of an apology had not upset her father. However, she added the army should have apologized on humanitarian grounds.
Even if Khalid Wani deserved punishment for meeting his brother (a terrorist) death was wrong and the army should apologize for that
Speaking about the composite townships that the alliance government intends to set up for returning Kashmiri Pandits, Mehbooba said this was one of the most important priorities of the alliance government. She said the claim by Hurriyat or Congress and National Conference that these composite township would be exclusive special zones was nothing but politics. She insisted this has not influenced popular opinion in the Valley.
Unlike in the past, when attempts to create composite townships had not succeeded because barely 15 per cent of pandits had returned, Mehbooba said this time the composite townships would succeed because the alliance government was determined to ensure their success and would act with conviction and sincerity.
On the Agenda for Alliance section on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act which said: “The coalition government will examine the need for de-notifying disturbed areas†Mehbooba Mufti revealed that this examination has still not started.
Her explanation was that the government has only been in power for 2 months and, secondly, the turbulence it has faced has not permitted it to start action in many areas.
However, Mehbooba Mufti also refused to say when the examination to de-notify areas would start. Also she refused to give any commitment that it would start in 2015 itself. It therefore follows that its very unlikely that AFSPA will be lifted from any part of Kashmir during 2015.
However, Mehbooba Mufti insisted the delay in starting the examination to de-notify was not because of resistance from the BJP. She further suggested that by the end of the 6 year tenure of the alliance government AFSPA would have ceased to exist in Kashmir.
Mehbooba Mufti didn’t accept that the sentence in the Agenda for Alliance which says â final word on the continuation of AFSPA lies with the Central government gives Mr. Modi a veto and, therefore, corroborates many peoples suspicion that AFSPA will not be removed or at least quickly removed.
On her father’s relationship with Mr Modi she said the two men had an improved understanding of each other and suggested that they had learned to work with each other. However, she added that her father was not interested in simply completing his tenure if he could not do the things he was committed to. (agencies)
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