Mehbooba Mufti touches National Conference’s raw nerve again

• Cites its role in 1987 rigged elections, alliance with BJP
• ‘Geelani, Lone chose separate path because NC dishonored people’s mandate in 1987’

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti Tuesday accused National Conference leaders of bartering away Jammu and Kashmir’s interests for power.
“When Omar Abdullah became the Minister of State for External Affairs, what was his agenda? You joined hands with BJP and what did you get in return. You gave away the power projects in lieu of power and chair. You should tell this House why you joined hands with them (BJP) at that time? Show me a document that you had with BJP that your party will deliver on such and such issue. We had a charter for 2002-2005 government and we have a similar agenda in this government,” she said.
The chief minister said the decision to ally with National Conference and Congress could have proved a disaster for the state.
“Such a decision would have repeated the situation of 1987. Syed Ali Geelani and Abdul Gani Lone were part of the assembly but they chose a different path because the mandate of 1987 was dishonored. It was not an election. It was a conspiracy and the repeat of such conspiracy could have pushed the state into chaos. Much blood has been spilled since 1947 in Jammu and Kashmir. We didn’t want to spill more by disrespecting the mandate,” she said.
The chief minister said the Agenda of the Alliance was a big challenge for her government.
“When Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah joined hands with India in 1947, it was a tough decision. However, he was a farsighted leader and whatever he decided was right. When Mufti Sahab joined politics, there were slogans of the plebiscite and even the mention of mainstream politics was seen as blasphemy. But my father was impressed by the composite culture of India and its democratic values during his student days in Aligarh. He could see how the poor and marginalized were empowered to choose or dethrone the Prime Minister which impressed him. He was a farsighted person and his decision to join a democratic party was the right one,” Mehbooba said.
She said her late father’s biggest hope was in India’s democracy as he formed PDP to evolve a strong opposition in Jammu and Kashmir.
“It was this decision which strengthened the democratic values of our state. But the mandate of 2014 assembly elections gave few options. We could have avoided the mandate of Jammu. Congress and NC offered us support and I am thankful for that. But the mandate from Jammu was strong. Could we have overlooked the mandate of people of RS Pura who elected Mufti saheb? We could have done it for the sake of chair but we kept the interest of J&K in mind,” Mehbooba said.
The chief minister said the separatist leadership claimed their political space without any intervention of the government during the 2002-2005 tenure of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
“At that time, separatist leaders were jailed but we set them free. I encountered them during election campaigns. We talked to them. Umar Farooq and Bilal Lone spoke with Centre. Militancy went down and a ceasefire was implemented. It sparked the hope of a new dawn of peace but the unfortunate events after 2008 turned the tide against the peace efforts,” she said.
Hitting out at the Opposition for accusing the government of implementing the RSS agenda on Kashmir, she said such remarks reflect the lack of faith among the Opposition members in their ideology “which is deeply secular and plural”.
“Even Pandits swear by the name of Dastgeer saheb and Resh-Moul saheb. Those shrines are sacred and no one has returned empty handed from them. No power on earth can dilute our secular ethos,” she said.