‘Joining hands with BJP was a suicide’
MUMBAI: Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to rise to the occasion, former chief minister (CM) of Jammu and Kashmir and the chief of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (JKPDP) Mehbooba Mufti said collaborating with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after 2014 Assembly polls was “a suicide”.
Speaking at an event organised in Mumbai on Friday, Mufti said there is a trust deficit between Delhi and Kashmir. She added Delhi needs to move over the belief there is a proxy war (in Kashmir) and understand the aspirations of Kashmiri youth.
Mufti also urged the Centre to open Kashmir’s borders with neighbouring countries and allow the state to be a part of China-pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “India is never an issue during elections in Pakistan, but Pakistan is an issue during elections in India. That is the mistake. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries are being held hostage to the animosity between India and Pakistan. All SAARC countries should come together and make Kashmir a model of co-operation,” Mufti said.
She even termed the years between 2002 and 2005 as the golden period of Kashmir “because for the first time the CM of Kashmir and PM of India, the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, were on the same page”.
“We allied with the BJP in 2014 hoping Modi would pick up where Vajpayee left, but that did not happen.” Taking a dig at BJP over violence and deaths related to cow vigilantism, the PDP chief said, “Thank God that in our democracy people vote, not cows.”
Commenting on a possible alliance between the Congress, National Conference and JKPDP, Mufti said it was the need of the hour. “We [leaders] have met twice, but it is too early to comment.” Praising Congress president Rahul Gandhi, she said “he has [now] arrived.”