‘Voter turnout this time must cross 70%’
Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Apr 23: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said that the abrogation of Article 370 has further complicated the Kashmir issue.
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Addressing party workers in south Kashmir’s Anantnag, as a part of the campaigning ahead of Lok Sabha election for Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, Mehbooba said that with the passage of time, they (Government) will realize what they have done to J&K.
“Kashmir issue will not be allowed to be forgotten. 370 did not resolve the Kashmir issue; rather, it further complicated it; time will come when they will understand what they have done with J&K,” she said.
The former Chief Minister urged people to come out and vote in huge numbers during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, strengthening the voice and ensuring the same reaches the Parliament.
“This time, 10, 20, 30 per cent won’t work; you have to cross 70 percent voter turnout; we have to speak about people’s issues and tell them that the decision taken in 2019 is not acceptable to the people of J&K,” she said.
She added: “Kashmiris remain silent and at times, they even appear dead but when it comes to it, they show what is right and what is wrong.”
Mehbooba said that despite facing defeat in 2019, she kept raising the issues of people due to which she, along with her party, were made to face excesses.
“In 2019, you did vote for me and did not go against me either. I did not stay home and did not stop raising my voice. That resulted in the breaking of my party; defection was engineered to take out our leaders; it was all done to ensure that the PDP is decimated and Mehbooba is left alone; they did everything to break my resolve; I was also thrown out of the house and today I am living far away in a forest,” she said.
She again highlighted the issue of the National Conference not consulting her before the elections, stating that whatever they would have decided after consultation, she would have accepted the same.
“What I told Dr Farooq is what I would have said to my father. I thought they would consult me. Whatever their decision would have been after consulting me, I would have accepted that. They did not consult me and said that PDP does not stand anywhere,” she said.
Addressing Omar, Mehbooba said: “He does not know that the PDP is in the hearts of people because we are the ones who worked when the people of Kashmir were facing tough times.”
She said that when 2019 happened, J&K was turned into a jail. “We used to see the guns of the task force, militant, Ikhwan-there was fear, today there is no gun, but the fear is there.”
Mehbooba said that there is no place to speak or raise their voice and what happened in 2019 continues till date. “Youngsters are caught in the menace of drugs; you have to know where these drugs come from; are they trying to destroy the young generation.”
Referring to what she did when she was the Chief Minister, she said: “I took back FIRs of 12,000 youth; I thought they were my kids and their lives would be ruined; today, the employees who have been fired, they cannot even go to the courts, knowing if they will speak, they will be put into jails.”
PDP President said that the Government is after the assets and resources of J&K, and “they want to make Kashmiris dependent, but we will not let that happen. This election is for safeguarding the identity. You have to ensure the right voice reaches the parliament, and that will happen only when you stand behind me.”
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