NC hits back, calls PDP’s Akhtar an ‘errand boy of Mufti’
Reacting sharply to the allegations leveled by People’s Democratic Party leader Nayeem Akhtar against National Conference and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the party (NC) Thursday said that Akhtar is Mufti Sayeed’s errand boy who has been tasked by Mufti to justify the unjustifiable.
“Nayeem Akhtar deserves sympathy from all of us these days. He has no choice but to bend over backwards to do the extra bit to please the father-daughter duo given that he will soon be rendered an irrelevant, vestigial accessory within PDP by the Ashiq Bukharis and Khursheed Alams of PDP,” NC spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu said adding that, “as for his obnoxious, uncivilized remarks about our leaders it does not merit a reaction-these are the words of a deeply frustrated man who has been given the job of justifying PDP’s merger into the BJP.”
Hitting back at Akhtar for saying that Omar Abdullah was an employee of a hotel before his entry into politics, National Conference Spokesperson asked what political background did Mehbooba have that her father subjected senior party leaders with decades of political experience like Muzaffar Beig into her perpetual service and placed all elder, senior PDP leaders at her beck and call? “What political background did Mufti’s in-laws and in-laws of in-laws have to get mandates in PDP? From what one hears, even poor Nayeem Sahab gets badly scolded and admonished by Mehbooba Mufti in front of everyone these days. If that is the cause of his obnoxious outburst, our sympathies to him.”
Mattu added that, “Nayeem Akhtar was a top crony of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed during his days in the bureaucracy and did a lot of shady work in allotments in contravention of rules to please Mufti Sahab.”
When asked does Omar Abdullah believe that the two members nominated by PDP for Rajya Sabha are illiterate and can’t represent the State well, Janaid Azim Mattu said that first and foremost Omar Abdullah has not called PDP’s RS candidates illiterate anywhere and this has been wrongly attributed to the NC Working President.
“Omar Abdullah doesn’t stoop to PDP’s level of name-calling, never has and never will. If Naeem Akhtar had some shame he would apologize for issuing an obnoxious statement on something that was never said – but we all know they are shameless.” Secondly, the NC Spokesperson said there is a difference between facts and beliefs.
“It is a fact that PDP has insulted the educated youth of J&K by sending middle-pass politicians to speak on their behalf in the country’s Upper House – a forum of debate on policy, planning, and ideology. PDP’s logic is that it has ‘rewarded’ two Assembly Election candidates who lost by thin margins. Are the Rajya Sabha seats opportunities to represent Kashmiris or rewards that PDP can award for petty, local electoral politics within the party? How petty and trivial of Mufti Sayeed! A former and now again an aspiring Chief Minister should think like a Statesman – not a Halqa President of his party. What an insult to the educated youth of our State – don’t they at least deserve an educated voice to represent them in the country’s Upper House? Also, by this logic of thin margins and mass support, people like Nayeem Akthar have no business being MLCs – they are virtually non-entities in the game of elections and margins. But as I said, all our sympathy for Naeem Akhtar-he’s just trying to get a pat on the back,” Mattu said.
When asked was it a party or personal failure of Omar Abdullah to lose elections from Sonawar and securing Beerwah seat by a thin margin, Mattu said that the contest from Sonawar was always touch and go and he (Omar Abdullah) barely campaigned in Sonawar. “Omar Abdullah challenged and defeated a sitting PDP MLA from Beerwah. The decision to contest from a seat where PDP had a sitting MLA demonstrates Omar Abdullah’s and NC’s confidence. His victory from Beerwah is a reiteration of his leadership. You should also acknowledge that Ganderbal went to NC and that is also a validation that Omar Abdullah’s great work there was appreciated and rewarded-a result in stark contrast to PDP’s chest thumping,” he said.
Responding to a question about the character and functioning of People’s Democratic Party, Mattu said that PDP is a Mufti family club and a number of MLAs are from Mufti’s immediate family. “Now even Mufti’s MPs have started promoting their own families-with Karra promoting and giving a mandate to his sister-in-law and Beig promoting and giving a mandate to his nephew. They clearly discriminate socially and clearly cannot claim to represent all sections of the society and the community. They believe in divide and rule and setting people against each other,” he said adding that PDP is a safe haven for not only retired corrupt bureaucrats who were sacked on charges of corruption but also a safe haven for dreaded killers and extortionists like Ashiq Bukhari.
National Conference Spokesperson said that Mehbooba Mufti’s performance as a Parliament Member and a Legislative member was a complete disaster.
When asked how does National Conference view the possible PDP-BJP alliance, Junaid Azim Mattu said that NC always maintained that PDP was created by BJP to sabotage NC’s demand for the restoration of Autonomy and with a larger aim of fragmenting the regional political voice of the State.
“BJP needed a proxy in J&K and hence invented PDP. Whatever Mufti Sayeed and Mehbooba said during the Assembly Election Campaign against BJP was just a charade. They sought votes to ‘keep BJP at bay’ while the reality is that PDP had sold itself including Mufti’s soul to BJP months before the Assembly Elections. They even got tons of money from the BJP to fund its candidates in the Assembly Elections. The substantial proof of this is in how PDP tactically supported BJP by dividing the Muslim votes in the Jammu region in Parliament Elections. Mufti’s alliance with Modi today is just a formal consummation of an unholy marriage that took place long before. What face they show to the people of Kashmir is for them to think now. They ended up falling in the feet of the same BJP who they sought votes to keep at bay,” he said adding that months ago Mehbooba screamed that BJP was a communal party and now she has become the willing poster face of the same party she called communal.
