No change in Mehbooba’s stand on CBMs

Mehbooba Mufti is firm on her original stand that there can be no compromise on her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s commitment and conviction if she is to form the government. That has been her position since January 8, when BJP general secretary Ram Madhav had first raised the issue with her. Nothing has changed in her stance since, her party colleagues say.
Her colleagues maintain that she is firm that she would form the government only if the confidence-building measures (CBMs) she has asked for are given to Jammu and Kashmir — all suggestions of exit routes sound reprehensible to her. She is incommunicado. The only time she had spoken in public was after she met Governor NN Vohra on February 2, where she had spoken of concrete CBMs and rock solid support from Delhi.
Kashmir observers felt that Mehbooba Mufti was asking for more than power projects and smart cities. She probably wanted that a profound sense of ownership should become visible in realistic terms from the Centre. Kashmir should not be treated as a distant place. The PDP should not be seen as an alien group of a distant land, the observers had interpreted.
When Mufti Sayeed shook hands with the BJP, he took a bold decision of unimaginable magnitude, the reciprocation of that sincerity of purpose is being awaited to date — this is the widespread feeling in the PDP. If she gets a positive assurance of ownership then she can form the government.
The killing of civilians in clashes between militants and the security forces produce a ripple effect wherein sympathy for militancy increases. The effect of unpleasant growth of extremism in Islamic countries and its influence in India is also influencing the situation in the state. This makes it imperative that the Centre should come out with concrete measures without any delay.
A common man’s feeling is that there should be a popular government. “The government is a must, we know that it won’t do anything, no government has ever done anything for us, still there is a semblance of some faces between us and the bureaucracy,” said Abdul Hamid, a peasant.
“Otherwise, there would be more clashes, shutdowns, and there would be no buffer in between,” he added.
“The regret here is that for the past 30 years, the Central government has not considered us as its own. The Army is not the answer. The answer is in ownership of us,” concludes Bashir Ahmad of Tral, Pulwama. In fact, that’s what finds an echo in what the PDP leadership is saying. That travels beyond the easy way to form the government.