Mufti’s tough stand leaves little room for BJP to hold talks
NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday made it more than clear that she would not allow any negotiations with the Separatists to end the ongoing violence in the Valley. At a joint media briefing with visiting Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Srinagar on Thursday, an extremely aggressive Mehbooba rubbished the question that she was doing a “rerun of 2010”.
“This is wrong analysis. In 2010, there was a fake encounter in Machil where three civilians were killed. After that there were rape and murder allegations in Shopian,” she said and countered the supplementary questions saying: “Let me complete first… this time an encounter took place in which three militants were killed, how is government responsible for that.” In course of the press met, she reiterated the fact that it was just five per cent of people who were responsible for violence and 95 per cent of Kashmiris wanted dialogue to end their woes. She was visibly irritated when a reporter asked about her stand during 2010 agitation and quoted her interviews in which she had questioned the then government led by Omar Abdullah for using force against children and arrest of Hurriyat leaders. The reporter while posing a query about her stand during the ongoing unrest in the Valley also made an observation that she and Omar had only changed places, it seems.
Mehbooba’s aggression surprised many as there have been reports of BJP planning to go soft in dealing with separatists especially the Hurriyat conference. “She is in no mood to cede turf to anybody as representative of Kashmiri people,” a Kashmir affair observer said. Singh, who was seated next to the Chief Minister on the dais, was seen making gestures to pacify Mehbooba who took on a reporter when reminded about her opposition to use of force and locking up of Separatists in 2010 when rival NC leader Omar Abdullah was the Chief Minister. “Muje kya bolenge yeh Sir. maine inke bachon ko bachaya hai Task Force se (What can they tell me. I have saved their kids from Special Task force),” Mehbooba, who lost her cool, retorted with an abrupt “thank you, now you can have a cup of tea.” She ended the press meet despite Rajnath Singh sitting beside her.
Countering the charges of state power being let loose on protesting people as was done by Omar Abdullah government in 2010, Mehbooba said: “People came on the streets, we imposed curfew. Did the children go to Army camps to buy toffees (candy)? Was the 15-year-old boy, who attacked the police station at Damhal Hanjipora (in south Kashmir), going there to get milk. Don’t compare both the things. People had genuine anger that time (2010).”