Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 26: Former Chief Minister and president of the Peoples Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti today said that there is widespread disappointment in Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a party workers rally at Noorabad Kulgam, Mufti said: “There is widespread disappointment among the people who cannot speak out due to an environment of threats and arrests. Thousands of our youth are behind bars, and recently, the wife of the incarcerated cleric Sarjan Barkari was arrested over terror funding. No legal course is followed, and people are being held without any evidence”.
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The PDP president said that the oppression and fear prompted Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to prioritize alleviating this disaster, even if it requires significant sacrifices from the PDP. “We are here to reestablish a connection with the people and restore a sense of security,” she said.
Asked about bringing BJP into Kashmir, the former CM said the people need to understand the vision of Mufti Mohmmad to understand his approach, but their thinking does not often go beyond power.
“Some argue they wanted to make him the Chief Minister, but his goal was to resolve the issues of Jammu and Kashmir and he knew that this can only be achieved by taking Central Government into confidence. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed achieved this by collaborating with Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, aiming to include Narendra Modi as well,” she added.
Earlier while addressing the rally, Mufti said that though countless people were arrested by agencies like NIA, CBI, SIA, SIU hardly any information was shared about their fate.
She said in spite of so many arrests there hardly was any conviction from the court as they all had been picked up on trumped up charges. “This should lead the administration to review its policies,” she added.
She said more important than power is the moral strength and political will to speak up for people and their rights. “I did not compromise on that even while heading the Government with BJP,” she added.
She said going into an alliance was a requirement not for power but to block its designs. We did that successfully as long as it lasted. She said the BJP withdrew support to her government only after realising that we would implement our agenda of peace and development and would not go along the dotted line as they were used to.
Urging the people to lend their voice to the efforts for restoration of our rights, Mufti said she’s not on a campaign for votes. “Positions don’t matter to me but what matters is to speak up for our agenda and our people. I’ll never compromise on that, come what may”, she added.
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