Anantnag: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said that Prime Minister Modi with a strong mandate had a great opportunity to move decisively forward on the resolution of Kashmir issue and that he squandered that opportunity, a statement issued here said.
Referring to the statement of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran khan regarding better possibilities of resumption of meaningful engagement between India and Pakistan, if Mr. Modi were to retain power at the center, Mehbooba said that it was an endorsement of the belief of Mufti Muhammad syeed on this issue.
“Today Imran Khan Sahab says that if Mr. Modi retains power at the center, it is more likely to result in fruitful engagement between India and Pakistan. It is essentially an endorsement of the belief of Mufti Sahab that guided our party’s engagement with BJP in alliance in the state. Mufti sahib believed that PM Modi with a strong mandate & support of RSS and other such right wing organizations is better placed to take bold and positive decisions viz a viz engagement with Pakistan and he wanted to make Jammu and Kashmir a bridge for such a coming together of two countries. Today, even Imran khan is saying the same thing. Though PM Modi wasted that historical opportunity,” Mehbooba said.
Mehooba, while addressing a worker’s convention in Anantnag of South Kashmir, asserted that the vision and roadmap of dialogue & reconciliation created by Mufti Muhammad sayeed is the only pragmatic way to deal with the vexed issue of Kashmir and get the people of the state out of Morass.
Speaking on the occasion, Senior PDP leader Dr Mehboob Beg termed the current elections a crucial challenge for the people of the state wherein they have to rise in unison to support of PDP and its leadership in order to safeguard the very identity of the state.
“A sinister attack has been launched against our state. There is a sense of repression and intimidation. Very idea of our identity as a Muslim majority state is under attack. In such times, it is only logical that everyone joins hands to support the unflinching leadership of PDP because Mehbooba Mufti has emerged as the sole voice of the people against all kinds of assaults against us,” Dr Beg said.
Other top leaders who addressed the convention included Abdul Rehman Veeri, Sartaj Madni, Rafi Ahmad Mir, Farooq Andrabi, Peerzada Mansoor and advocate Javed Ahmad.
