Hope Modi will start dialogue with Pak if re-elected: Mehbooba

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti addressing an election rally at Khanbil, Anantnag on Wednesday. —Excelsior/Sajad Dar
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti addressing an election rally at Khanbil, Anantnag on Wednesday. —Excelsior/Sajad Dar

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Apr 10: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti today said that like Pakistan premier Imran Khan she too is hoping that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will start a dialogue with Islamabad if he gets re-elected.
The former Chief Minister said her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was of the same view when he formed an alliance with the BJP in 2015 but Modi “lost a golden opportunity by not making use of it to start a dialogue with Pakistan”.
“That is what Mufti thought. He knew that a BJP Prime Minister, who has support of Jan Sangh, the RSS and Shiv Sena, if he wants to make use of the opportunity, then he can talk to Pakistan like (former Prime Minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee, she told reporters here.
The PDP president was reacting to Khan’s remarks that he thinks there may be a better chance of peace talks with India if BJP wins the general election due to begin tomorrow.
“Now, if Modi gets re-elected, then like Imran Khan, we too hope that he starts a dialogue with Pakistan and Modi makes full use of another opportunity,” Mehbooba Mufti said.
During an interaction with a small group of foreign journalists in Islamabad, Khan had said he believes there may be a better chance of peace talks with India and settling the Kashmir issue if Modi’s party BJP wins the general elections. Click here to watch video
Khan said other parties would be afraid of right-wing backlash in case of a settlement on the Kashmir issue.
The former Chief Minister said that Modi with a strong mandate had a great opportunity to move decisively forward on the resolution of Kashmir issue and he wasted it.
“Why are you feeling embarrassed? Raise your heads and tell the people what Prime Minister of Pakistan is saying today has been said much before by Mufti Sayeed,” she asked party activists said and urged people to vote for her. “Previously I won by 50 to 60 thousands votes, today I shall win by one lakh votes”, she said.
Mehbooba, while addressing a worker’s convention in Anantnag, asserted that the vision and roadmap of dialogue and reconciliation created by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is the only pragmatic way to deal with the vexed issue of Kashmir and get the people of the State out of morass.
The former CM said that her father and party patron late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had “captured ghost in the bottle” by allying with the BJP.
“By joining hands with BJP, Mufti Sahib captured the ghost in bottle. The ghost who talks about abrogation of Articles 370, 35A today and the ghost who has closed the national highway for two days a week. The ghost who through NIA is not sparing leaders like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and taking others to Tihar jail,” said Mehbooba.
“Mufti Sahib time and again said that Modi has a two-fold mandate. He is a Prime Minister of BJP. He is backed by RSS and Bajrang Dal and other Hindu parties,” she said, adding, “Mufti sahib had given a golden opportunity to him to resolve Kashmir by joining hands with (Prime Minister) Modi”, the former CM said.
She said Mufti Sayeed tried to cure “disease of youth carrying stones in hands, wielding gun and struggling with unemployment.”
Mehbooba said that Mufti Sayeed had asked people to give him 40 seats but the fractured mandate which saw BJP winning 25 seats meant that “PDP had no option but to drink a cup of poison by joining hands” with the saffron party.
She said that Mufti had joined hands with BJP on pre-conditions of having a dialogue with Pakistan and Hurriyat Conference and not touching Article 370. “BJP also agreed to withdraw AFPSA and return power projects”, she said.
She said that BJP is trying to end the Muslim majority status of Kashmir and by threatening to abrogate Articles 370 and 35A, they keeping on “pestering” the people of the State.
“They cannot repealing the Article 370 or Article 35A and if they do so, the relation between India and Kashmir will end. There would be such a blaze from Kashmir that will destroy along with entire South Asia”, she said.

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