Mehbooba Mufti warns BJP against splitting PDP

SRINAGAR: Former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday warned the BJP-led Centre against "engineering a split" in her party, which she claimed would give birth to new terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mehbooba resigned as chief minister on June 19 after BJP pulled out of the coalition with PDP.

Talking to reporters in downtown on the occasion of 'Martyrs Day', Mehbooba said that if BJP at the Centre interfered and engineer a split in PDP, it would have "disastrous consequences".

She said it would give birth to new terrorists the way Syed Salahuddins (chief of Hizbul Mujahideen) and Yasin Maliks (chief of JKLF) were born in 1987 when Muslim United Front (MUF) was repressed by rigging assembly polls.

"Agar Dilli ne 1987 ki tarah yahan ki awam ke vote pe daaka dala, agar iss kism ki todfod ki koshish ki, jis tarah ek Salahuddin ek Yasin Malik ne janm liya... agar Dilliwalon ne PDP ko todne ki koshish ki uski nataish bahut zyada khatarnaak hogi (If, like in 1987, Delhi tries to plunder the people's mandate and attempts to break the party, it can have serious repercussions and spawn forces like Salahuddin and Yasin Malik, calling for the boycott of elections)," the PDP chief said.

"My party is strong, there are differences which can be resolved," she added.

However, BJP general secretary and party's pointsman for Jammu and Kashmir, Ram Madhav, rejected reports that his party was working to form a government in the state with the help of MLAs from other parties. He reiterated that his party backed Governor's rule for the return of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, Twitter exchanges between Madhav and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah suggested otherwise. After Omar reacted to Mehbooba's remarks in a tweet, saying, "Not one new militant will be created with the breakup of the PDP. People will not mourn the demise of a party created in Delhi only to divide the votes of Kashmiris," Madhav engaged him in a friendly manner while criticising Mehbooba.

In the unusual back and forth conversation on Twitter, Madhav reminded Omar that BJP and NC were once allies. Acknowledging it, Omar recalled that it was during "the glorious days of the Vajpayee era which believed in insaniyat, jhamooriyat and Kashmiryat."

To this, Madhav said the Narendra Modi government believed in the Vajpayee slogan while Mehbooba resorted to talking about terrorists like Salahuddin and Malik.

Omar responded by showing appreciation for BJP, saying, "That is their old habit when they want to scare Delhi. May you continue to remain committed to the vision enshrined in those three important words."

Five PDP rebel leaders accused Mehbooba of "endangering their lives" with her remarks that BJP was trying to engineer defection in the party. Among others, former IT minister and Shia leader Imran Raza Ansari, MLAs - Abdul Majeed Padroo and Javid Baig - and MLCs Yawar Reshi and Saifuddin Bhat termed Mehbooba's threats as "absurd" and demanded an apology for her statements.

In a tweet, Ansari wrote: "Are you telling me Mehbooba Mufti that people will take to guns because you and your cronies have been driven out of power. It is an end to cronyism. People are celebrating wake up."

"Don't tell me Mehbooba Mufti that you are a novice and don't know that painting rebellion as a Delhi exercise puts rebels lives' at a risk. Stop being a white collar killer."