Srinagar, Jul 14: BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Saturday hit out at former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti for what he said “threatening the Centre in the name of militancy”.
He also denied the allegations that the BJP was trying to split the PDP and asked Mehbooba to solve her party’s internal conflicts.
“What Mehbooba-ji said is unfortunate and based on lies. No one in Delhi is trying to break their party (PDP),” ANI quoted Madhav as saying. “Instead of solving their internal conflicts, they’re blaming Delhi and threatening” in the name of militancy.
“As far as BJP is concerned, we aren’t trying to break any party,” he said.
Madhav, who has been BJP’s point-man for its alliance with the PDP, also said that “the central government and armed forces have the power to fight the militants who are in the valley and those who might turn to militancy due to Mehbooba-ji.”
Speaking to reporters yesterday at the Martyrs’ Graveyard at Naqahband Sahab (RA) shrine here, Mehbooba Mufti had warned the Centre that any attempt to break the party would have a “very dangerous” outcome.
The former chief minister had yesterday said, “…If there are any attempts to engineer a split in the PDP like it was done in 1987 to commit robbery on people’s vote and to crush the MUF (Muslim United Front), the results will be extremely dangerous.”
She also recalled that the events post the 1987 Assembly elections “created” Syed Salahuddin, the chief of Hizbul Mujahideen, and Mohammad Yasin Malik, the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief.
Hours later, the PDP rebels led by MLA Pattan Imran Raza Ansari addressed a press conference in Srinagar where they assailed the party chief saying “their fight was against nepotism and dynastic rule”.
“We are a small set of leaders and won’t dare to go near Delhi. Delhi is the domain of the two select families. Let Mehbooba-ji educate us about the role of Delhi in her career so that we would also understand what Delhi is?” asked Imran Reza Ansari.
“Can’t we raise our voice? Is the definition of democracy confined to total blind loyalty and slavery to Mehbooba-ji?” Ansari said, claiming the rebels were the “real PDP”.
Ansari said Mufti’s assertion had put their lives in danger. “She has leveled serious allegations against us. Does she want to create an impression among the people that we are colluding with the Centre?” he asked.
Ansari also said it has been a tradition to put a “Delhi tag” on anybody who dares to challenge the two dynasties ruling J&K, referring to National Conference and PDP.
“She (Mufti) is telling Delhi that don’t dump the tradition and ensure that her MLAs don’t rebel against her. It is not the intervention of Delhi she actually is talking about, she is agitating about the absence of intervention by Delhi which really defines change in today’s situation compared to the past,” he said.
Ansari also said Mehbooba Mufti should count the number of people who took to the gun during her tenure as chief minister.
“She is threatening that Salahuddins and Yasin Maliks will be born (if her party breaks). Let her tell how many youth picked up arms during her tenure,” he said.
MLA Baramulla, Javaid Hussain Baigh also came down heavily on the PDP leadership for “stifling democracy within the party and sidelining bigwigs like Muzaffar Hussain Baigh”.
“We tried to reach out and talk to her (Mufti) but what we faced from her and her cronies was utter humiliation,” Baigh said, adding the PDP president was trying to give out an impression that the institution of MLA was up for sale.
“She has also accused us of dancing to someone’s tunes. This is like putting us before the lynch mob, this can put our families and workers at risk,” Baigh said.
Another rebel, MLC Saifuddin Bhat, Abdul Majid Padder (MLA Noorabad) and Yasir Reshi (MLC) were also present at the press conference.
Pertinently, apart from the five legislators who were present in the press conference, Ansari’s uncle — MLA Zadibal Abid Ansari — and MLA Tangmarg Mohammad Abbas Wani are the other two PDP legislators who have openly rebelled against the leadership of Mufti.
Meanwhile, a group of BJP activists today staged a demonstration here and burnt an effigy of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti over her statement that any attempt by the Centre to engineer a split in her party would have “extremely dangerous” consequences.
Led by district president (Jammu West) Ayodhya Gupta, BJP supporters held the demonstration at Kachi Chawni in the heart of the city and demanded that a sedition case be registered against Mufti.
“We request the governor (N N Vohra) to take serious note of her anti-national statement, file a sedition case against her and put her behind bars so that no other politician ever dares to make such a statement,” Gupta told reporters.
He termed Mufti’s statement “shameful” and said “terrorism is getting boost by such utterances”.
