NC reviving old bonds with BJP: Mehbooba ‘Kishtwar Situation Just A Material For Chief Minister’s Tweets’ Srinagar, Aug 12: Irked by the debate in the Parliament over Kishtwar situation and the stand taken by the BJP, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti Monday said National Conference seems to have revived its old bonds with the BJP to cut the Congress vote bank in Chenab Valley in Jammu region. Addressing media persons at her Gupkar residence here, Mehbooba said she was astonished to see the debate and the stand taken by BJP leaders in the Parliament over Kishtwar situation. “It seems that NC is in nexus with its past ally once again to the cut the Congress votes in Chenab Valley. It is the Congress party alone that has a strong footing in Chenab Valley as NC has lost its base there,” she said. Mehbooba was flanked by PDP chief spokesman Naeem Akhter. She said though the resignation tendered by the MoS Home Sajad Ahmed Kichloo was a welcome move, but it was not as if Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had done wonders. “Chief Minister is projecting the move as if something major has been done in favour of people,” Mehbooba said. “Surprisingly, whenever situations like Kishtwar arise, Chief Minister gets material for his tweets,” she said. “We see tweet after tweet from him whenever situation takes an ugly turn.” She said when NC was in alliance with BJP during Godhra riots, NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah and his son (Chief Minister Omar Abdullah) were more worried for their marriage with BJP rather than resigning. “Farooq was heading J&K with 65 ministers and his son, who was a Union minister during NDA government, were representing a Muslim majority State, but they preferred power. They preferred to defend Narendera Modi, who at this juncture is trying his best to politicize the Kishtwar incident,” she said. She said PDP was shocked as to whether BJP was the same party when its patron Atal Bihari Vajpayee extended hand of friendship to Pakistan from Kashmir soil. “I doubt whether BJP is the same party when Vajpayee Ji said anything is possible with the ambit of humanity,” the PDP chief said. Mehbooba said her party smells that somehow NC is trying to cement its relationship with BJP again so that the vote bank of Congress is cut in Chenab Valley. “I think NC and BJP have become party to madness. When 120 youth were killed in Kashmir in 2010, not a single person was punished, neither did any minister resign. So highlighting the resignation of MoS Home doesn’t make any big difference at this stage,” she said. “Instead, the Chief Minister branded those who were killed in 2010 as drug addicts. Had Chief Minister taken a stand in 2010, probably educated youth would not have been joining militant ranks at present.” To a query as to whether PDP too would benefit from the Kishtwar situation, she said it was the Congress that has a footing there. “So the nexus between NC and BJP would harm Congress, not us,” she said. “We sacrificed power in 2008 just after the killing of three persons. When situation took an ugly turn and three people were killed, we sacrificed the government. Since then we are in opposition. Perhaps, if we would not have withdrawn the support from Congress, we would not have been in the opposition,” she said. “After we withdrew the support, it was New Delhi and the current dispensation that mishandled the situation which led to the death of 120 youth in 2010.” The PDP chief also questioned the silence adopted by Congress over the Kishtwar crisis. “We are surprised that no leader is talking about Kishtwar incident,” she said. About the All Party Meeting convened by Chief Minister, Mehbooba said: “I got a call from Divisional Commissioner at 11: 30 a.m. today that the Chief Minister has convened APM at 1:30. How was it possible for us to reach Jammu within two hours? If government was serious about our participation, we should have been told earlier.” On whether PDP supports disbanding Village Defence Committees (VDC), Mehbooa said such committees are the creation of NC President Farooq Abdullah. “Government should think about an alternative for the young VDC members before disbanding them. Disbanding them will render them jobless, which has to be kept in mind,” she said
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 19:41:49 +0000
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