BJP disowned its initiatives: Mehbooba
J&K exCM says party has to answer for its ministers
SRINAGAR: Former chief minister and president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday launched a scathing attack on its former ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for “disowning its own initiative” in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and labelling it a “soft approach”.
After the BJP pulled out of coalition government on June 20 citing a rise in “terrorism, violence and radicalism” in Kashmir, and the state came under governor’s rule from June 20, the PDP has mostly been silent on the BJP’s charges. However, Mehbooba Mufti came all out against its former ally on Sunday after BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday said the ‘PDP-led government’ discriminated against Jammu and Ladakh regions and it failed to act against the worsening situation in Kashmir.
“Many false charges were levelled against us by our former allies. Our commitment to the Agenda of Alliance, co-authored by Ram Madhav & endorsed by senior leaders like Rajnath (Singh) Ji never wavered. It is sad to see them disown their own initiative & label it a ‘soft approach’ ,” Mehbooba tweeted. “Allegations of discrimination against Jammu & Ladakh have no basis in reality. Yes, the valley has been in turmoil for a long time & the floods of 2014 were a setback, therefore needed focused attention. But that does not mean that there was any less development elsewhere,” she said.
The former CM said that the BJP had to answer for the performance of their own ministers.
“If anything they should review the performance of their own ministers, who largely represented the Jammu region if there were any such concerns, none among them either at state or central level talked about it during the last 3 years,” she said.
In a series of tweets, Mufti stated that the status quo on Article 370 and the dialogue with Pakistan & Hurriyat were a part of Agenda of Alliance which was acknowledged by the BJP. “Encouraging dialogue, withdrawing cases against stone pelters & the unilateral ceasefire were much needed measures to restore confidence on the ground. This was recognised & endorsed by BJP,” she said.
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on June 19 had invoked “national interest” and Kashmir “being integral part of India” for justifying its decision to end the 40-month-old alliance.
Mehbooba Mufti, who resigned from CM’s post on June 19 immediately after the BJP announced its decision to end the alliance, took credit for not budging under pressure over demands of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into rape and murder of 8-year-old tribal girl in Kathua. “Not handing over the Rasana rape & murder case to CBI, getting the pro-rapist ministers removed & also issuing orders not to harass the Gujjar & Bakarwal community in the guise of anti-encroachment drives were my duties as CM to provide a sense of security to both communities,” she said. Mehbooba also took jibes at the BJP leaders for invoking the killing of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari to break the alliance but not doing anything against their own MLA for “threatening” Kashmiri journalists.