*Calls for amendments in NFSA
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 5: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti today strongly defended the alliance between PDP and BJP formulated by her late father and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed saying the PDP joining hands with Congress or any other party after 2014 elections would have meant betrayal of the verdict given by Jammu people.
“Mufti joined hands with the BJP for twin purposes—first to honour the verdict of Jammu people, who had given 26 out of 37 to the party and secondly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had decisive mandate at the Centre and it was he who could resolve the Kashmir problem,’’ Mehbooba said addressing party workers after launching membership drive at Vijaypur town in Samba district this afternoon.
Asserting that Mufti Sayeed had a clear vision for Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP president said Mufti’s joining hands with any other party like Congress or National Conference to form the Government last year would have betrayed the mandate of the people of Jammu, who had overwhelmingly voted for the BJP by giving the party 26 seats from out of 37.
“Mufti Sayeed had entered into an alliance with the BJP for integration of Jammu and Kashmir,’’ she said.
Pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decisive mandate of the country, Mehbooba said only a Prime Minister with such a mandate could take steps to solve the Kashmir problem and “Mufti Sayeed knew this very well’’.
“Mufti Sayeed was proved right when Narendra Modi went to Pakistan and the positive results poured in immediately,’’ she said, adding that immediately after Pathankot attack, Pakistan not only made several arrests in their country but also set up the Joint Investigating Team (JIT).
Mehbooba, who would be touring Doda and Ramban districts next week followed by her more visits to parts of Jammu and twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, said Mufti Sayeed took major decisions in short spell of 10 months and even when he fell ill, he was touring downtown Srinagar, where no political leader visits.
Ms Mufti, who will return to Srinagar tomorrow morning after four days visit to Jammu, said during her meeting with Governor NN Vohra yesterday, she had called for certain amendments in National Food Security Act (NFSA) as small families could suffer due to implementation of the Act.
“While many families will benefit due to the Act as their ration quota could go up from 35 kilograms to 50 kilograms, the small families could suffer. In view of this, I have requested the Governor to go for amendments (in the Act) for welfare of the people,’’ she said.
Blaming National Conference and Congress for creation of Hizbul Mujahideen supreme commander Syed Salah-ud-Din, Yasin Malik etc, Mehbooba said Mufti Sayeed wanted to create an alternate to the National Conference by strengthening the Congress but NC and Congress entered into Rajiv-Farooq accord in 1987 and scuttled the efforts (of Mufti Sayeed).
Without naming the Muslim United Front (MUF), Mehbooba said the National Conference spread the word that it was “terrorist organization’’ and would create trouble in the Valley if it bagged seats. Asserting that (the MUF) was contesting the elections under the Indian Constitution and had to take the oath of the Constitution before becoming the MLAs, she said the “loot-khasoot’ by NC and Congress created a commander (without naming Salah-ud-Din), who is today operating from Pakistan and Yasin Malik, who were then contesting the elections but these two parties didn’t allow them to win.
“Mufti Sayeed then formed the PDP in 1999 to create an alternate political party in the State,’’ she said.
She recalled that then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee visited Kashmir when Mufti took over as the Chief Minister in 2002, leading to ceasefire between India and Pakistan and opening of cross-LoC routes like Uri-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawlakote. He said Mufti Sayeed also wanted opening of Suchetgarh route in RS Pura and make it border tourism point like Wagah for which he had also visited the spot.
Asserting that war was no solution between India and Pakistan, Mehbooba said nothing can be achieved from the war.
“There was Kargil war…then there was huge deployment of forces on the borders. But ultimately, people benefited out of the ceasefire,’’ she said, adding that it was due to trouble on the borders that the people ask for bunkers and land instead of schools, colleges and hospitals.
She said the PDP wanted peace to prevail on the borders…inside the State and an end to encounters and firing, which would lead to peace and development of Jammu and Kashmir.
“We lost 26 years old Captain Tushar Mahajan in an encounter. We lost 18-years old ‘Newton’ (who had secured 98 per cent) marks in Tral encounter. We want this bloodshed to stop for peace to prevail,’’ the PDP president said.
Lauding the decisions taken by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for promotion of tourism in Jammu like Ranjit Sagar dam, border tourism, she said she needs support of the people to complete the works left by Mufti Sayeed. “This was for the first time during Mufti’s tenure that free and fair recruitment of police was conducted with no exchange of money,’’ she added.
Mehbooba said that effective development and good governance in Jammu and Kashmir is possible only in an environment of peace and stability which necessitates decisive confidence building measures to be taken by the political leadership in New Delhi.
“Peace and stability is possible only when we revive, with firm resolve and with tangible confidence building measures, the process of reconciliation and engagement in and around Jammu and Kashmir,” Mehbooba said.
Ms Mehbooba said J&K has huge stakes in peace and stability in the region, as people in both Kashmir and Jammu regions have to suffer enormous human and economic losses because of the hostility.
“Mufti Sayeed wanted to take the peace and resolution process started between 2002 and 2005 to its logical conclusion,” she said.
She said the Kashmir issue should not be seen through the security prism alone and the country needs to invest in J&K’s peace and own and acknowledge the pain and sufferings of its people.
“The ordinary people of India need to participate in hand holding with Kashmiris to give them a sense of belonging,” she said and added that when we talk of Jammu and Kashmir being an integral part of India, we need to go beyond the ownership of land.
“People of Jammu and Kashmir should not be given to feel that their dignity is being undermined,” she said.
Mehbooba said addressing the genuine political, economic and security concerns of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is an issue which goes beyond power politics and requires a decisive political will at various levels.
“We shall have to take decisive confidence building measures to end the gloomy scenario of despair and alienation the state has been once again pushed into,” she said and added that the most daring challenge for PDP is to be with the people and show solidarity with them and the party is committed to its resolve of working for peace, stability and development of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mehbooba urged the party cadres to reach out to the people with the PDP’s agenda of peace and development and carry the membership drive to every nook and corner of the State.
PDP General Secretary Ved Mahajan, chief spokesperson, Dr Mehboob Beg, Legislators, Choudhary Zulfkar Ali, Vikramaditya Singh and Aijaz Ahmad Mir, PDP Youth Wing president, Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, Dr Harmesh Salathia, Sunny Sangral, Jatinder Bhat, Abdul Rashid Malik, Mohammad Salim, Digvijay Singh, Yashpal Sharma, Anita Devi, Pawandev Singh, Choudhary Hassan Ali Wafa, Parveen Kattar, Sunil Bhat, Attaullah Simnani, Sukhvinder Singh, Bachan Singh, Vijay Kumar, Satpal Charak, Yudhishter Singh, and Shashi Pal also addressed the convention.
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