Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. (PTI/File)
Settling doubts over the future of its government in Jammu and Kashmir, the Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday termed the resignation of two BJP ministers as a confidence-building measure that would strengthen the alliance.
The party also appreciated the “support and solidarity” extended by the people of the country for the eight-year-old girl raped and murdered in Katua, and hoped for similar support to resolve the political issues of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The way the entire people of this country adopted (the girl), the way they raised their voice, the way they helped us uphold the credibility of the investigation… an attempt was made to damage the credibility, to subvert the investigation… The party will fail in its duty if we don’t express our gratitude to the entire people of our great country, to our civil society members and especially the media of this country,” senior PDP leader and Minister Naeem Akhtar said, after a meeting lasting more than three hours at Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s residence here. All PDP ministers, legislators and senior leaders were present at the meeting.
“We expect the same attitude of the people of the country, irrespective of party affiliations, irrespective of ideological affiliations, to look at the restlessness of our youth, look at the issues of our youth, at the political issues from a humanitarian angle, and join hands to help us heal the wounds,” he said.
Settling any doubts on the future of the PDP-BJP coalition government, Akhtar said, “We appreciate our alliance partner BJP, which supported us. The Prime Minister, Home Minister, Ram Madhavji and Amit Shahji, they played a role and sought resignation of two BJP ministers, about whom it came in the media that they didn’t play a positive role. I feel that was a confidence-building measure. And if the PDP and BJP continue to solve their problems in a similar way, I think there would be no substitute to this alliance.”
The minister added that the Kathua rape and murder developments had created an “emotional bond” between J&K and the rest of the country. “We want this bond should be strengthened. If the people of the country understand that the people of Kashmir are not monsters, (if they understand) they are not their enemies… they are our own people, I think we can take forward the process of reconciliation.”
Akhtar, who was authorised by the party to speak after the meeting, however, backed what Tourism Minister Tassaduq Mufti had told The Indian Express, on the PDP and BJP “being partners in crime”.
“Whatever Tassaduq Mufti sahib said, that represents an emotion. That represents, in fact, the pain of this place. As I said, the cure to this pain is a support similar to that the entire country gave us in the Kathua case. To address the pain of Jammu and Kashmir, people (of India) should support, us irrespective of the government, irrespective of the government that rules in Delhi or Jammu and Kashmir. We believe that till people of India don’t understand our humanitarian problems, our wounds, it wouldn’t happen. We expect the entire country to be with us.”