Hints at forming govt if Centre meets J-K’s needs
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti hinted at forming the government with the BJP today, but wanted New Delhi to take steps for implementation of the “Agenda of Alliance” to reach out to people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mehbooba made it clear that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s decision of going with the BJP for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir was final.
“For me the decision taken by my father is final,” Mehbooba said while addressing party workers in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. “I will not do anything that will prove my father wrong. His decision is my decision,” she said.
Mehbooba said the “Agenda of Alliance” was the creation of her father to form a government with the BJP, which was equally important for her.
“I have no issues with the BJP. I am not asking anything from the BJP. The question is what the Centre wants to do for people of Jammu and Kashmir,” she said.
She said Mufti formed a government with the BJP only to ensure that people of state benefited on the development front and peace was restored in the turbulent state.
The PDP president made it clear that she had no ambition of becoming the Chief Minister only for the sake of power.
“I could have become the Chief Minister even during Mufti Saheb’s time when doctors advised him not to hold public meetings due to his ill-health. But I chose not to as my father had the desire to serve people,” Mehbooba said. She said her father had great trust on himself and was keen to see peace in Kashmir.
“Mufti Saheb was keen to bring India and Pakistan closer for better bilateral relations. Restoration of peace and improvement of relations were always on top of his mind. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Pakistan in December, Mufti Saheb was on a hospital bed in Delhi. He told me that the two countries had no option but to talk to resolve issues,” she said.
“He made efforts for ceasefire on the border and convinced then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to initiate a dialogue with separatist leaders in Kashmir. When the PDP put up signboards mentioning the distance between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad during the term of the PDP-Congress government, some people laughed at us. Mufti Saheb was confident and made it a point that cross-LoC trade was put in place,” she added.
She said young persons had been dying due to the ongoing violence when they should learn to live. “Captain Tushar, 26-year-old son of a poor man from Udhampur, was killed in an encounter recently. A 16-year-old boy who was known as Newton and had scored 98 per cent marks was killed in a gunfight. The killing of youths needs to be stopped,” she remarked.
