Mufti not a judge of ‘political wisdom’ of voters PDP creation of agencies: NC Srinagar, Aug 6 : National Conference has lashed out at PDP Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for suggesting that those who don’t vote for PDP allegedly lack ‘political wisdom’. Terming this as a blatant insult to the autonomous decision making right of every single Kashmiri to choose what he deems in the best interests of the State without being judged, abused and harangued for his choice, National Conference has said that Mufti’s statement reflects his self-seeking and overly partisan perspective on politics and socio-economic change in a State that has suffered turmoil and strife. According to a statement issued to KNS, National Conference Spokesman Junaid Azim Mattu said that every single election is important and celebrates the right of the individual voter to endorse or reject candidates free of any pressures or influences and Mufti Sayeed’s fatwa was disrespectful to the democratic right of a common Kashmiri. The NC Spokesman said “Mufti Sahab has a self-certified tendency to be overly-moral in setting the alleged ‘standards of political wisdom’ from time to time. As hypocritical and patronizing as that might be, it would not be out of line to ask Mufti Mohammad Sayeed where his morality was when Kashmir was at the ‘crossroads of a historic moment’ in 1990 – a time that merited empathy and compassion for the people of this land as opposed to the barbaric, iron-fist brutality that was unleashed on them by Mufti Sahab as the then Home Minister of India. Where was Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s sense of moral perspective when he signed a pact with the RSS and VHP to send Jagmohan to Kashmir to lord over some of the most heinous massacres this Valley has seen? Why did Mufti Mohammad Sayeed fail to see the ‘plethora of problems’ in J&K when he ordered one bullet to be reciprocated with hundred bullets, when he ordered shoot-at-sight orders and when he pioneered the systemic custodial killings of Kashmiris as the Home Minister of India in the BJP supported VP Singh Government?” The NC Spokesman said that it was painfully ironic that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed – the biggest Machiavellian asset of covert intelligence agencies in Kashmir was demanding a “renewed beginning towards the resolution of the Kashmir Issue by engaging with all stakeholders”. This is the same Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who ensured the targeted murder of every single stakeholder in the militant leadership despite the fact that there was a ceasefire in place. “Mufti Sahab brought these young men on the negotiation table and out of hideouts on the pretext of negotiations and peace talks and sent ambush and encounter teams to shoot them dead at night. Where was Mufti Sayeed’s concern for ‘engaging with stakeholders’ when he killed these militant commanders in cold blood while a cease-fire in effect? There should be no doubt in the minds of the youth of Kashmir that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is the fountainhead of every single constitution, legal, illegal, political and military conspiracy hatched against the integrity, dignity and constitutional sub-sovereignty of this State right from the late 1950s when he started his political career. As aptly stated by Senior Journalist Praveen Swami in his summing up of Mufti’s political career – Mufti Sayeed is a ‘Man of many parts and many parties’”, the NC Spokesman said. Ridiculing Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s self-praise and his attempts to claim the moral high ground, the NC Spokesman said that Mufti Sayeed has insulted hundreds and thousands of Kashmiris who oppose him and PDP by saying that this opposition was a result of lack of ‘political wisdom’ and lack of ‘emancipation’ in these voters. “This recurring habit of Mufti Sahab to threaten, judge and trivialize the rights of the people of J&K is unsurprising. As a Minister in the Sadiq Government, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed put his wholehearted support behind the erosion of Article 370 and the considerable repeal of a constitutionally guaranteed special status to the State. Was this State not at the ‘crossroads of a historic moment’ when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was party-hopping and putting his weight behind every crony, pliant leader and stooge who conspired against the Internal Autonomy of J&K while Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was incarcerated for standing up for the political aspirations of his people? These facts are not hidden from the people and not in the least from the youth of this State – who are informed, intelligent and responsible and know their history very well”, the NC Spokesman added. “We all know what Mufti Sahab means when he talks about ‘overhauling the system of governance’. This ‘overhauling’ by Mufti Sayeed was witnessed prominently on four separate occasions in the past. The first instance was when Mufti Sayeed helped in eroding Article 370 and became a Minister in a State Cabinet that destroyed the special status of the State. The second instance was when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became the dreaded Home Minister of India in 1990 and helped intelligence agencies in ‘overhauling’ the ‘system of governance’ by invoking Disturbed Areas Act (DAA) and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the J&K. The third instance was when in 1996, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed received crores of rupees from intelligence agencies to float a coalition of political individuals from various backgrounds to dilute the regional political voice of J&K. The fourth instance was in 2002 when Mufti Sayeed robbed the politics of J&K of a regional character and became a puppet Chief Minister in an agency patronized and conceived government despite the fact that National Conference had emerged as the single largest party even in 2002. Unfortunately for Mufti Sayeed and fortunately for the people of this State, he won’t be allowed a fifth opportunity to wreak havoc in J&K”, the NC Spokesman said. The NC Spokesman said that the last five and a half years have seen unprecedented socio-economic change and development in J&K as testified by facts and figures. “The Omar Abdullah Government has taken J&K towards economic self-reliance by adding more than 1,500 Megawatts to the State’s power portfolio and laying the edifice for the addition of another 9,000 Megawatts without a spec of an allegation of corruption as opposed to Mufti Sayeed’s criminal failure to make J&K self-reliant in power. The average Kashmiri’s income has risen. The State’s GDP has grown. There are thousands of new industrial workshops, hotels and factories in J&K today. There are hundreds of new bridges, thousands of new schools, hundreds of new hospitals and dispensaries and thousands of kilometers of new roads in J&K today. There has been a 71% reduction in violence and more passports have been issued by the Omar Abdullah Government on a yearly average than Mufti Sayeed’s Government did in any two years of its tenure combined. This is Change. What Mufti Sayeed is talking about – this Machiavellian ‘overhauling’ – that’s the bidding of agencies he is an expert at”, the NC Spokesman added while saying that PDP’s drama of seeking a “decisive mandate” as a pre-condition to represent their political aspirations was a cruel joke with the people of this State. “PDP has been created to suppress the political aspirations of the people of J&K – not to highlight them. Mufti Sayeed is no less than a proclaimed offender who has repeatedly been found involved in hatching conspiracies against the Kashmir Issue in various capacities. Mufti Sayeed is seeking political power to destroy J&K’s political stature – and the youth especially are conscious to this”, Mattu said. “Mufti’s talk of transparency is perhaps the most ironic and ludicrous highlight of his statement prepared by recently recruited philosophers whose philosophies and elitist, academic jargon changes with the changing weather. Mufti Sayeed turned J&K into the ‘Most Corrupt State’ in the country within two years of coming to power. He destroyed the institutions of transparency and ensured that the tools to fight corruption were either made ineffective or completely thrown out of the arsenal. He gave his Ministers a license to engage in loot and plunder and there are numerous cases in Vigilance Department and State Accountability Commission that validate this. The coming Assembly Elections will show Mufti Mohammad Sayeed that the people of J&K possess the appropriate political wisdom to differentiate between collaborators of agencies and those who have given blood and life to uphold the dignity of J&K”, Mattu added.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 17:19:22 +0000