Agenda of Alliance necessary for Valley: Mehbooba Mufti

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said the PDP-BJP coalition’s Agenda of Alliance, having solution to all problems, was decided by former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and was necessary for bringing Kashmir out of difficult situation.
She said the Agenda of Alliance covered various issues, like revocation of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, power, talks at different levels and friendly relations with Pakistan. It contained solutions to the various issues confronting the state.
The Chief Minister was speaking on the occasion of release of English and Urdu publications of “Sheeraza”, journals of the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, by Governor NN Vohra at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre here today.
Education Minister Naeem Akhter, Minister for Finance and Culture Haseeb A Drabu and noted Kashmiri litterateur and Jnanpeeth awardee Rehman Rahi were present on the occasion. Ministers, legislators and family members of Mehbooba, including her sister Rubaiya Sayeed and brother Tassaduq, also attended the event which marked the first death anniversary of Mufti Sayeed.
Paying tributes to her father, Mehboob said Mufti was for developing good relations with Pakistan for which he had been impressing upon the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to dismantle the barriers between the two neighbouring countries. She said it was only then Vajpayee initiated the process of talks with Pakistan and dialogue was held at different levels and the roads were opened. “There was a change in the situation,” Mehbooba added.
Saying Mufti was worried about the sufferings of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, she said, “he believed in democracy” and was for nurturing democracy in Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking on the occasion, Akhter recalled his association with Mufti for over the past three decades in different capacities. He said Mufti was always “trying to find a way through a complex situation….he was talking, breathing and thinking about Kashmir.”
Haseeb Drabu recalled Mufti’s political calibre and efforts at different levels to bring Kashmir out of the crisis and put it on the track of peace and development. Minister for Social Welfare and the Peoples Conference chief Sajjad Lone, an ally of the BJP, also paid tributes to the former Chief Minister.
In his remarks, secretary, J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, Aziz Hajni said Mufti had also a great vision for culturally uniting all three regions of the state for overall development. The academy followed the practice of publishing special numbers (literary journals) on the former Chief Ministers as also the presidents of the academy, he said, adding that such numbers had been published for Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, GM Sadiq and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in the past.