Mehbooba remembers Vajpayee for historic steps taken on Kashmir

Srinagar: Terming late Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the only prime minister of the country who understood the pain and tribulation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, PDP President Mehbooba Mufti said the former PM would long be remembered for taking historic steps in addressing the issues of the people of J&K and normalising relations with Pakistan.
“Speaking at a memorial service at the national capital, the PDP President said the late Prime Minister trusted the people of Kashmir when he came to power by recognising their agony and striving for its resolution and in turn got this trust reciprocated hugely from them,” a statement issued by the PDP said here.
“It was late Vajpayee ji who undertook some bold and monumental confidence building measures like opening of routes, ceasefire and other steps for which the people of the State would remember him for times to come,” Ms Mehbooba, who is the former chief minister of the state, said in her address.
She said the people of Jammu and Kashmir hold late Vajpayee in high esteem for his statesmanlike approach towards the State and today they are in a state of mourning more than any other citizen of the country.
Describing the late leader as an astute statesman, the PDP President said the late leader would be remembered for the peace building measures he took for normalising relations between India and Pakistan despite huge challenges and for achieving sustainable peace in the Sub continent.
“It was his dedicated persistence with peace that encouraged the then Pak leadership to declare that their soil would not be allowed to be used for anti Indian activities,” she reminded the audience. She said his often repeated quote Dost Badlay Ja Saktay Hain, Padosi Nahin became a benchmark for political statesmanship and diplomacy.
Terming late Vajpayee as a man of consensus and great human being who truly believed in human values, Ms Mehbooba said the late Prime Minister had the ability to carry everybody along. “He was the only Prime Minister in the country who carried a coalition Government successfully to a full term, a reflection of his leadership qualities and taking every shade of opinion along,” she said in her tributes.