Srinagar: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president, Mehbooba Mufti Tuesday accused the BJP-led central government of disrespecting the Constitution of India by ‘abolishing’ the Constitution of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.
The former chief minister also said that her party would restlessly work for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s lost respect.
Addressing a party meeting at PDP head office here, Mehbooba said “by abrogating Article370 on August 05, 2019, you (BJP-led govt) tarnished the constitution of India. Our party, its leaders and every worker would not rest until the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue, and restoration of its lost respect.”
She also revealed that her refusal to crack down on Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and allow bodies of militants to be buried without families was a major reason for the fallout with the BJP.
“The alliance (PDP-BJP) crumbled after I was told by the BJP to sign a pact that the bodies of slain militants won’t be handed over to their families for last rites and a crackdown will be launched against the Jamaat,” she said while addressing party workers here.
“I refused to agree to this plan which led to the fall of PDP-BJP alliance in J&K,” the PDP chief claimed.
While justifying the PDP’s alliance with the BJP in 2015, she said, “Late Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) Sahab had joined hands with BJP only to ‘cage a jin’ in a bottle so that Article 370 won’t be touched. It was done after an agreement between PDP and BJP that Article 370 won’t be touched, historic roads will be opened and a dialogue with Hurriyat leaders and Pakistan would be held –that was the ‘Agenda of the Alliance’.”
Mehbooba also said that closing doors to Parliament delegation by the Hurriyat leaders (Syed Ali Shah Geelani) in September 2016 set a bad precedent across the country.
“While the PDP was in alliance with the BJP, a golden opportunity was lost when Hurriyat leaders shut their doors to the all party parliamentary delegation. This set a bad precedent about Kashmiris across India,” she said, adding that after that another opportunity was lost by not responding to the repeated offers of Union Home Minister who stated “my doors are open for everyone.”
The PDP chief while training guns at BJP led government in New Delhi said that history is witness whenever any party comes to power, it invites other smaller parties to join them to run the governance but “we are seeing reverse of everything.”
“BJP made country’s top agencies as its partners including NIA, ED, CBI only to suppress people and intimidate them,” she alleged.
The former CM alleged that in the past two months, there is hardly any PDP worker who wasn’t intimidated, threatened, warned and now “DDC winners are being blackmailed to join other parties.”
“A person who was caught with three guns in his car was let go and his case was withdrawn as he became BJP’s proxy,” she claimed, adding that on the contrary PDP youth president Waheed Para was put behind bars by the NIA.
“Waheed is the same person who brought 6,000 youths to former Home Minister of India’s rally in Kashmir. Despite court orders, he wasn’t allowed to take oath in jail. How can he be linked with militants if he was working to bring youth to the mainstream?” she asked.
Accusing the BJP-led regime of choking Kashmir’s economy and tarnishing the J&K’s constitution by scrapping Article 370, Mehbooba said: “We will fight for our rights. We are not the ones who would raise white flags. No matter how far BJP goes in choking Kashmir’s economy and making us dependent on all fronts, we will not bow.”
The former chief minister said the mainstream political parties in Kashmir were working to achieve their goal of restoration of special status “within the Constitution of the country”.
“National Conference talks about autonomy, it is within the Constitution. We (PDP) talk of self-rule, open borders, reconciliation … how long can you maintain peace through the barrel of the gun?” she asked.
Mehbooba said her party’s struggle is not against the people of the country but the party and the government that “humiliated Jammu and Kashmir” by repealing its special status.
“PDP is going nowhere till it plays its role in restoring what has been snatched from us,” she said.
Mehbooba claimed that the formation of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) had led to frustration in the ruling party and referred to the recent detention of some leaders.
She also criticised the BJP-led central government over the three agri laws which have triggered protests by farmers.
“The government brought farms laws, but the farmers are out on the roads protesting in chilly winter.
“If the laws are not accepted by the farmers, can they be beneficial to them? If you bring laws which are not acceptable to people, you are disrespecting the Constitution of the country,” she said.
