Mir Farhat
Srinagar, Mar 21: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said the next Government at Centre should engage the separatists to address the internal dimension of the Kashmir issue within the Constitution of India.
Addressing media persons at his Gupkar residence here, Mufti said that the country is a big democracy and dialogue was the only solution to resolve Kashmir issue.
“The next Government at the Centre will have no alternative except to engage Hurriyat Conference to address the internal dimension of the Kashmir issue within the Constitution of India. And to address the external dimension, it (the new Government) will have to extend a hand of friendship to Pakistan,” Mufti said.
He along with the PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti, released the party’s manifesto for the upcoming Parliamentary elections during the press conference.
He said that former Prime Ministers, including PV Narsimha Rao, NDA Government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had initiated number of steps to address the Kashmir issue.
“PV Narsimha Rao’s “sky is the limit for autonomy”, or Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s “insaniyat kay dairay main” or Manmohan Singh’s “making borders irrelevant” need to be institutionalized to have an impact on the ground,” he said.
Mufti said that unless these approaches get legitimized and authorized by the Parliament, there cannot be any headway as far as the resolution is concerned.
The PDP patron said UPA Government during the early years carried forward some initiatives, but they were not taken to a logical conclusion.
“Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh held two round-table conferences, working groups were formed. One of the working groups headed by now Vice President Hamid Ansari recommended repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) while another headed by C Rangarajan recommended return of some power projects to the State… However, these initiatives were not taken to logical conclusion,” said Mufti.
Flanked by four PDP’s Lok Sabha candidates Mehbooba Mufti, Tariq Hamid Qarra, Arshad Malik, and Yashpal Sharma, Mufti said they will seek a “special” session of the Parliament on Jammu and Kashmir if the people of the state “give a verdict in their favour”.
“In this session the members of PDP would anchor the debate and steer the discussion of the House towards a stated J&K Policy which is quasi-legislative in its moorings,” he said.
Mufti said PDP will propose, discuss and debate the creation of a new Ministry for Affairs of J&K.
“PDP will seek to amend various national policies relating to developmental aspects with a view to make them beneficial for J&K. For instance, the National Hydro Policy, 2008, MSME Development Act, Micro Finance (Development and Regulation) Bill 2012, Amendment of Procurement Preference Policy Act,” he said.
Mufti lashed out at the National Conference and UPA for breaking trust with the people of Kashmir by hanging Afzal Guru.
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