“Rahul Gandhi has been in active politics for a long time and he has given a lot of time (sic)… and now, he is arriving,” Mufti said at an event organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) at Nariman Point. (Express photo/Shuaib Masoodi)DAYS AFTER the Congress registered wins in the Assembly elections in three Hindi heartland states, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Friday said party president Rahul Gandhi “is now arriving” in the political scene.
“Rahul Gandhi has been in active politics for a long time and he has given a lot of time (sic)… and now, he is arriving,” Mufti said at an event organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) at Nariman Point.
Mufti said her People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had an alliance with the BJP in J&K knowing that it will be “suicidal”. “In the 2014 (state) elections, when we got 28 seats and BJP got 25, just to restart what (former PM Atal Bihari) Vajpayee has left half way, we joined hands with BJP. We know that it was a suicide for us as a party,” she added.
When PDP entered into a tie-up with the BJP to form government in J&K, it was expected that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reach out to Pakistan, said Mufti. “We put everything at stake because for a party, which is called pro separatists, soft separatists…. joining hands with the BJP was not easy. But we did it because we thought Modiji will also rise to the occasion like Vajpayeeji. Modiji has huge mandate and Vajpayeeji did not have that kind of mandate. He will be able to reach out to Pakistan and people of Jammu and Kashmir and start where Vajpayeeji had left,” she added.
Expressing disappointment over PDP’s alliance with BJP and trusting Modi, she said: “There is total distrust and disconnect between people of Kashmir and Delhi. From 2002 to 2005, it was the golden period when Vajpayeeji was the PM… he handled the Kashmir situation very well. Since Modi had always maintained that he follows Vajpayee’s footstep, we though of going in alliance with BJP even it was going to hurt politically. Initially, Modi had promised to change things but after time passed, people of Kashmir realised that nothing was happening.”
When asked about whether PDP will be a part of the ‘mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance of opposition parties) under Rahul’s leadership, Mufti said: “Though I spoke to (Chandrababu) Naiduji, Mamta (Banerjee) ji, as of now, we have not decided anything. We are a very small player.”
On if she would be open to an alliance with the Congress and the National Conference, she said, “We had never thought we would ally with the BJP. Now, an alliance with the Congress and NC depends on the need of the hour.”
On the unrest in Kashmir, Mufti said that SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) should come forward in making Kashmir a model of cooperation by opening borders from all sides. “Several times, we have taken up the issue of making borders irrelevant… we should open Kashmir borders from all sides. Why can’t we be part of a sea pact… have Kartarpur-like corridor? Why can’t we have Sharda Peeth corridor? Why can’t we have Skardu-Kargil corridor? We have to move forward and open up all the routes that are in existence since 1947.”
“So many routes can be connected to central Asia from J&K as well as Pakistan. Why can’t SAARC countries make Kashmir a model of cooperation ? Let it be an experiment… We need to push security forces from civilian areas. We need some kind of mechanism where people’s representatives of this Kashmir and that Kashmir (POK) meet twice in a year and discuss about trade and other issues,” said Mufti.
Urging the government to understand the people’s sentiments, she said: “Everybody is saying it (Kashmir) is an integral part of India but who is saying it is not an integral part? If you are considering it as an integral part, then people living there should be also part of it. Unless and until the people and politicians feel the pain like Vajpayeeji did of Kashmiris, Kashmir will go away day by day. What we will do of that land where people living are not with us?”
