Day after J&K president of Bharatiya Janata Party Sat Sharma asserted that the decision to “isolate” Hurriyat leaders has been taken at the highest level in New Delhi, the Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday hit back at its ally BJP, saying holding a dialogue with separatists and Pakistan is envisaged in the Agenda of Alliance and “no one can afford a volte-face on this.”
In a statement here, PDP’s Vice-President Sartaj Madni said dialogue without Hurriyat is meaningless and repeated utterances of local and national BJP leaders discounting dialogue with Hurriyat leaders and Pakistan “doesn’t serve the people’s interests.”
“The very idea of closing the doors of reconciliation and understanding on vital political issues undermines the peace process,” he said.
He said several unwarranted postures have contributed to trust-deficit and alienation, leading to confrontation and acrimony at various levels. “The unnecessary debate on most sensitive issues cannot help the state,” Madni said.
Referring to Agenda of Alliance (AoA) between the PDP and BJP, he said: “This is envisaged in agenda of hope and promise to reach out to everyone, including separatists and Pakistan. No one can afford a volte-face on this,” he said.
Madani said late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, with support from then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had “shown the way forward for peace and resolution in Jammu and Kashmir in 2002 to 2005.”
“The situation then was marked by public appreciation, mutual cooperation and understanding. This led to a remarkable phase of development, political stability and peace in the state. The relations between India and Pakistan also marked a shift from animosity to bonhomie which provided further space to people to thrive upon,” he claimed, adding: “It was in this backdrop that PDP trusted BJP and the Union Government. The peace and political process picked up well again when Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised everyone by visiting Pakistan. Unfortunately, some provocative incidents impeded this course. But it is this course that alone yields substance in resolving the issues with stake.”
He called upon the BJP leaders to draw a leaf from Vajpayee era and strengthen the process of mutual reconciliation and dialogue. “History is replete with lessons that no one turns out a beneficiary from war and confrontation and no one should be allowed to undermine the importance of reach out and dialogue even in an atmosphere of provocations and mistrust,” Madni said.
He hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would use his “massive mandate and influence” to set in a discourse of peace afresh so that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is brought out from the “present morass” and people of the region are given a participatory role to prosper.
PDP hits back at ally BJP over isolation remarks on Hurriyat leaders
