Though PDP Chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti during a press conference in Srinagar this week very rightly accused Governor Satya Pal Malik of working on the agenda of a particular political party by continuing attempts of tinkering with the laws concerning special status and working of key institutions like Jammu & Kashmir Bank but she virtually supported the divisive politics propagated by BJP when she demanded separate divisions for Chenab Valley and Pir Panchal areas of Jammu region along with Ladhak region . Mehbooba a former Chief Minister and head of one of the two largest mainstream political parties instead of opposing the division status to Ladhak has virtually supported BJP’s intents of dividing Jammu & Kashmir into more division just to divide the people of Jammu & Kashmir along ethnic lines by raising the demand for division status to Chenab Valley and Pir Panchal areas of Jammu region. Mehbooba could have said that like Ladhak and Kargil the autonomous hill development councils should be created for Chenab Valley and Pir Panchal areas of Jammu region.
Since BJP is the only mainstream political party propagating the demands for more divisions in Jammu & Kashmir the PDP Chief should not have publicly raised demands for any further divisions in any one of the three regions of the state.
Demanding more divisions in Jammu and a separate division for Ladhak is against the basic spirit of regional integration of Jammu & Kashmir state. The defeat of BJP in recently held autonomous hill development council elections in Ladhak and Kargil is a verdict against the divisive politics of BJP and Mehbooba Mufti as the head of the one of the two largest mainstream political party should draw lessons from the verdict of the people in Ladhak and Kargil autonomous hill development council elections and stop tending to raise demands which could lead to disintegration of Jammu & Kashmir state. Unfortunately Mehbooba Mufti during her presser in Srinagar also claimed the support of National Conference, CPI(M) Secretary M Y Tarigami, Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) Chairman Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen and Chairman Democratic Party Nationalist (DPN) Gh Hassan Mir over the demands for division status to Ladhak, Chenab Valley and Pir Panchal areas but none of the parties Mehbooba named during her presser over the demands for division status to Chenab valley and Pir Panchal area publicly endorsed her views. Claiming the support of any party on any issue without consultations is against the basic spirit of political morality and better would it have been to discuss the issue with the parties before naming them over a sensitive issue during her presser in Srinagar. Since BJP is the only mainstream political party propagating the demands for more divisions in Jammu & Kashmir the PDP Chief should not have publicly raised demands for any further divisions in any one of the three regions of the state.
