Kulgam, Apr 17: Mehbooba Mufti, the former chief minister and President of the People’s Democratic Party on Wednesday said that the National Conference undermined the PDP by making solo decisions regarding the candidates for parliamentary seats in Kashmir without proper communication.
She made these remarks while addressing a party gathering in the Kund area of Devsar in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
Mufti said she was in Mumbai where NC chief Dr Farooq Abdullah was also present. She said she had informed them (INDIA bloc) that Dr Farooq is the senior member, and whatever decision he makes regarding the seats in J&K, PDP will accept it.
Despite my statement, they (NC) asserted that the PDP is a done-and-dusted party, she said. “They should have reached out to me. If they had contacted me and said that for the larger interest of J&K, they would contest all three Kashmir seats, I would have respected their decision and agreed. However, they underestimated PDP and labelled it as the 4th serial number party,” she said.
Later, while addressing the media, Mehbooba said, “I believe people shouldn’t see these elections as a fight between PDP and NC, but rather as a situation where people are suffocating, with no one speaking up. Thousands of youth are in jails, yet no one is advocating for them. Journalists are being imprisoned, and ordinary people are facing harassment. The power tariff has increased tenfold, and electricity is scarce.”
The PDP chief said the focus should be on the member addressing these critical issues, regardless of whether it is herself or Mian Altaf. People should consider which candidate can effectively advocate for their concerns in the Parliament, she said.
Mufti said the BJP aims to instill fear among the people to silence dissent. “In the midst of this, if anyone dares to speak up, the people should rally behind that candidate. I trust that people will make their decision based on this principle,” she said.
Mufti also responded to Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks about fake encounters and said, “If the Home Minister has raised this issue, then priority should be given to cases such as the Rajouri youths and the Shopian fake encounter that occurred during Governor’s rule, which were proven.”
“The incident at Bufliaz in Topa Peer, where three youths were killed under torture happened during the Home Minister’s tenure. The perpetrators of such incidents should be punished first,” she said. “If the Home Minister believes that during Omar Sahab (Omar Abdullah) or my tenure any fake encounter occurred, there must be punishment. Those involved in incidents like Chattisinghpora or the Machil fake encounter must be held accountable.”
She said the BJP often speaks about ‘Parivarwaad’ (dynastic politics) and accused the regional parties of corruption. “They should conduct inquiries; they (BJP) have all the machinery. If the Abdullah and Mufti families have committed any wrongdoing, they should prove it and put us in jail. Why haven’t they done so?” she added.
