Pained over CM’s decision: Drabu
EXPULSION FROM J&K CABINET Former FM says his statement was misconstrued and was sacked by Mehbooba Mufti without giving him an opportunity of being heard
JAMMU: A day after he was sacked unceremoniously by the chief minister Mehbooba Mufti for his controversial remarks on the nature of Kashmir dispute, senior PDP leader Haseeb Drabu on Tuesday said he was pained over the manner his statement was misconstrued and the way he was sacked as the state finance minister without affording him an opportunity of being heard.
Drabu on Tuesday issued a clarification on his statement vis-à-vis his removal.
He said that he had no formal or even personal communication either from the government or from the party about his being dropped from the cabinet on March 12.
“I stand informed by the media first as a speculation then as a fact,” he said.
Drabu said that the speech he delivered at PHDCCI programme on March 9 was focused on a thought, which had been on his mind: the role of civil society in resolving the issue of Kashmir.
“Speaking to a select gathering of ambassadors and industrialists, who could be possible investors in peace in J&K, I tried to make the point that Kashmir was not only a political issue to be resolved by the nation-state of India and the successive governments at the centre and the state, but that there is a social issue that needs to be resolved at the level of the civil society,” he said.
Drabu said that it was made in the larger context of how society in Kashmir has been ravaged and has impaired real-life situations and sensibilities, especially of the youth.
Drabu said that to the best of his understanding and knowledge, this in no way was against the articulated and stated political position of PDP.
He regretted that he was misconstrued and was not given an opportunity of being heard. He said that the decision to drop him did come as a surprise but what was shocking was the manner and method of communicating it. “While I understand and accept the decision of the Party, to take to media before talking to me, was painful. I was not accorded the opportunity to explain the context and the content of my speech,” he added.
Drabu, however, said that he harboured no ill will against anyone. “That’s simply not my way of being,” he said.
BUKHARI NEW J&K FINANCE MINISTER
As anticipated, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday handed the additional charge of finance, labour and employment to the education Minister Syed Mohammed Altaf Bukhari.
DRABU DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING WRONG: BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), partner in the coalition government with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, on Monday evening said that the chief minister Mehbooba Mufti should not have fired finance minister Haseeb Drabu.
Party’s spokesperson in the state Prof Virender Gupta said, “He (Drabu) didn’t say anything wrong. He should not have been sacked. Why the chief minister sacked him is the internal matter of PDP but she may have been afraid of propaganda by the National Conference and separatists.”
DRABU’S SACKING RIGHT DECISION: FAROOQ
Opposition National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s decision to sack Haseeb Drabu from the council of ministers was right.
“It is an internal decision of the party, what can I say. Yes, we condemned the statement he (Drabu) gave that this (Kashmir) was not an (political) issue. The party (PDP) saw that this is an issue. All the parties here condemned the statement.
“See, he (Drabu) had also implemented GST here, the party saw what happened with that. So, his party (PDP) took the decision and I feel it is the right decision,” Abdullah told reporters here.