PM Modi has mandate to resolve Kashmir: Mehbooba Mufti

Srinagar, Jul 28: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Monday said she had no hesitation in saying that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to solve the Kashmir issue, he could definitely do it.

Addressing party workers at the 26th Foundation Day of PDP at Sher-e-Kashmir Park here, she said, “The 140 crore people of the country have chosen him and he has the authority.”

Mehbooba said that PM Modi had landed in Lahore uninvited and nobody had questioned his move.

She said different Prime Ministers in India, with their vision and statesmanship, made remarkable diplomatic achievements.

“However, there have been very few Prime Ministers, who had the authority to take bold decisions,” the PDP chief said.

“Indira Gandhi Ji played a pivotal role in liberating Bangladesh and pushing back 90,000 Pakistani soldiers. Similarly, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji also took bold steps,” she said.

Stating that people of Jammu and Kashmir were in favour of “peace with dignity”, Mehbooba said that peace, which is a dividend of friendship, was always a welcome step.

“It is high time to shun war and follow the path of peace and friendship,” she said.

“J&K was caught in a Catch-22 situation with armed forces on one side and militants on the other. The introduction of the Task Force and Ikhwan regime let loose a reign of terror. There was no guarantee of life until late Mufti Sahab formed PDP,” the former chief minister said.

She said that the PDP founder and former chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed “even shook hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the only intention to bring J&K out of the quagmire it had been dragged into.

Mehbooba said that as soon as PDP came into power, the situation in J&K took a U-turn, witnessing a massive improvement in law and order.

“Mufti Sahab was a man of peace who wanted to make friends. He wanted to be at peace with everyone and not get into confrontations,” she said. The PDP chief said Sayeed advocated for India to “play the role of an elder sibling” and be in good relations with Pakistan.

She expressed grief over the killing of innocent people during the India-Pakistan exchange of fire in the aftermath of Pahalgam attack. Recollecting Sayeed’s reference to India as an “elephant”, Mehbooba said it should have ensured status of J&K as its crown, instead of letting the erstwhile state “strangulate under its feet”.

“India has an economic and demographic advantage over China. It is far ahead in several sectors but unfortunately the External Affairs Minister has admitted that India cannot compete with the likes of China,” she said.

The former chief minister said that at a time when India should focus on poverty alleviation, it had been earmarking huge funds for arms procurement.

Blaming this approach, she said deployment of additional forces in Kashmir and use of various anti-terror laws like the Public Safety Act (PSA) and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) would yield no benefits.

Mehbooba said these laws had rather led to detention of thousands of innocent youth.

“Till New Delhi does not pay a heartfelt heed to the people of J&K, peace won’t return,” she said.

The PDP chief accused New Delhi of “breaking PDP” and said that this did not provide the Centre with any tangible benefits. She also welcomed the forthcoming India-Pakistan fixtures in the Asia Cup.