‘Kashmir incomplete without Pandits’
*Linking my proposal with ‘Dixon Plan’ wrong: Ex-CM
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Jan 20: Claiming that Kashmir is incomplete without Kashmiri Pandits (KPs), former J&K Chief Minister and PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti today said that restoration of peace in the Jammu and Kashmir through dialogue and development was top in the agenda of her party.
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PDP president strongly criticised the J&K National Conference and the BJP for linking her proposal for granting divisional status to the Pir Panjal and the Chenab valley to the Dixon Plan and said the demand was purely administrative and aimed at ensuring balanced development and better governance of “neglected” regions.
“My party has only one agenda– the restoration of peace in Jammu and Kashmir with dignity. Dialogue should be held with each other as was demonstrated by (PDP founder) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed during the Vajpayee era, when dialogue was pursued within Jammu and Kashmir and also with Pakistan,” she said. “During that period, cross-border roads such as the Poonch- Rawalakote and Uri- Muzaffarabad routes were also opened. We want the Army to go back to the barracks after improvement in the situation, two power projects should either be returned to J&K or adequate compensation be provided. This is our agenda-we want J&K to prosper, remain united, and for the Government to reach out to the people,” former J&K Chief Minister said while talking to media-persons here today.
Responding to a question on Farooq Abdullah linking her proposal for granting divisional status to Pir Panjal and Chenab valley with the Dixon plan, Mehbooba said she respects him and considers him the tallest leader in Jammu and Kashmir, but “I think he had forgotten that his father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was arrested for the same formula.”
“It could be the agenda of the National Conference and its founder, for which he was dismissed and jailed. This can never be our party’s agenda,” she said.
The Dixon Plan was a formula proposed in September 1950 by Sir Owen Dixon, a UN representative and former Chief Justice of Australia, aimed at resolving the Jammu and Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. Click here to watch video
She said Pir Panjal is a backward area which is facing the major brunt of the hostilities between India and Pakistan on the borders, while Chenab valley is environmentally fragile and is facing frequent natural disasters and accidents.
“People should be empowered and democracy demands that the Government reach the public. I have talked about the administration and not the Dixon Plan. My father spent his whole life to keep the whole J&K united and that was the reason for his forming the Government with the BJP to respect the people’s mandate,” she added.
The PDP leader further lashed out at the BJP for linking the proposal to some hidden agenda of Pakistan and the Dixon Plan and said “they have already destroyed the erstwhile state of Maharaja by carving out Ladakh (in 2019) and also seeking separate Statehood for Jammu”.
“We do not want to merge Pir Panjal and Chenab valley with Kashmir and instead want separate divisional status for the two regions for the benefit of the people. BJP started implementing the Dixon Plan when they redrew the borders of South Kashmir’s Anantnag Parliamentary constituency by including Poonch and Rajouri in it,” she maintained.
Replying to another question Mehbooba Mufti said Kashmir is incomplete without Kashmiri Pandits and people of the Valley are eagerly awaiting their return.
“Kashmiri Pandits must take their own decision. We are eagerly waiting for their return as the Valley is incomplete without them,” she said.
The PDP president said she had recently met Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and conveyed him that instead of nominating two members of the community to the Assembly, those seats should be reserved for them.
“Let them come, contest elections. They will seek votes and Muslims will vote for them. That is how communities will come together,” she said.
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