Opportunistic alliances have discredited democracy in Jammu and Kashmir and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will have no ties with parties whose policies it is now disapproving of, its chief Mehbooba Mufti has said.
In an exclusive interview to The Hindu , Ms. Mufti said she was confident of winning a majority alone, but in any case would not do “anything that discredits my party, and democracy, which is the only hope for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Her views attain significance given the chances of the election throwing up a hung Assembly with the PDP emerging as the single largest bloc. “The mood of the people is to give majority to a single party. We will not require the support of anyone. People vote one party to be in power and the others to be in Opposition. It would be a betrayal of the verdict if parties that were opposed to each other become partners. BJP and we have divergent views and agendas. We are saying opposite things on issues such as Article 370. I cannot overlook that for the sake of power. That will be belittling the voters,” she said.
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While Ms. Mufti was categorical in denying the possibility of an alliance with the BJP, her response on the Congress was less emphatic and indirect. “Congress is no better. Just to counter the rise of the BJP, the Congress sent a Kashmiri, Afzal Guru to the gallows in a surreptitious manner. . Congress has allowed the killers of Rajiv Gandhi and Beant Singh to live but had a different yardstick for Kashmir.” The PDP leader regretted that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not speaking like a statesman in J&K.
Shorn of leaves and their lives frozen, willow trees all around wait for the faraway spring, but Ms. Mufti reassures her adoring audiences across villages that a new political spring is imminent.
“Mufti Saab (her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) is going to be Chief Minister soon,” she says through a megaphone. “Inshah allah, Inshah allah,” the crowd chants. “We will bring back those days of peace and harmony,” she repeats, reminding the crowd of the days of Mr. Sayeed’s tenure as Chief Minister between 2002 and 2005.
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As she concludes, the women in the crowd want to come closer, kiss her arm and shower her with flowers. Men shout, “Jeet Hamari, Inshah Allah, Kashmir ko banana hein, Mufti saab ko lana hein” (God willing, victory will be ours; to build Kashmir, Mufti saab must be brought).
Ms. Mufti asks the guards to let people come closer, hugs them and listens to their complaints. She then moves to the next hamlet.
The tour of Anantanag’s villages was hurriedly organised, after she cancelled the earlier plan to go to Tral where two civilians were killed in a terror attack on Friday. “People would be mourning there and it would be improper to campaign there,” she said. She has thrice narrowly escaped bids on her life — once a mine exploded in the car next to her, but Ms. Mufti is unflinching. “Life and death are matters of the God. I can be killed even at home.”
But what has hurt her is Mr. Modi’s campaign in the State that two dynasties were controlling the politics here, counting hers as one. “My father worked for more than four decades in politics, in Indian democracy, and it took us 20 years to build a house for ourselves. Everyone in Jammu and Kashmir knows how scrupulous he is and my father won an election from Jammu. In 44 years, he was Chief Minister for three years. Can you compare us with the Abdullahs who have been in power for three generations? Modi Sahab should know what he is speaking,” she said.
Ms. Mufti said the hype over good voter turnout has complicated the politics of the State. “Please don’t pitch voters against separatists and Pakistan. They have used the weapon of democracy with vengeance. Compliment them, congratulate them, but don’t make them vulnerable by saying that this is a vote against Pakistan or Hurriyat. This is a vote for development,” she said.
Read Mehbooba Mufti's earlier interview to The Hindu : >"Hope Delhi will take Vajpayee line on Kashmir"