Mufti to Omar: We never knew you had detained just 16 under PSA

·        ‘Jammu and Ladakh should take ownership of J&K’s special status

·        ‘J&K coalition adds diversity to BJP’s mandate’

·        ‘No government jobs to Pakistan refugees’

 

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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Jammu, March 20: Chief Minister and head of the PDP-BJP coalition in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir State, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, on Friday refused to lend much of importance to the fidayeen attack in Kathua----first after the Assembly elections, in which six people got killed----while asserting that involving Pakistan and “internal stake holders” was necessary for resolution of the Kashmir imbroglio.

Replying to the two-day-long debate on Governor’s address in Legislative Assembly, Mufti claimed that the security scenario had considerably improved in the last several years. He said unfortunately some people were projecting as if Kashmir was a “big prison”.

“Omar Sahab during your regime, we never knew that the total number of the people detained under Public Safety Act was just 16. We were told they are in thousands. But it is the fault of your men who didn’t tell us the real number. When we took charge and inquired about it, who jo kehte hain na ki bahut shour sunte the seene mein dil ka, jo cheera tou ik qatra-e-khoon nikla. We found that their total number was only 37 and 20 of them were foreigners. Of the 16 J&K State subjects, only 3 stone pelters are in jail under PSA”, Mufti told his predecessor Omar Abdullah.

Mufti said he wanted to release the political prisoners to deflate the propaganda that India was on the course of repression and that the entire Kashmir was like a big prison.

“When I took over as Chief Minister in 2002, I released Syed Ali Shah Geelani from a jail in Jharkhand. Congress as well as BJP, Vajyapee as well as Manmohan Singh, supported us to bring about a thaw. Yet again, this deal with BJP is never for grabbing the post of Chief Minister. We just wanted to seize the opportunity of retrieving J&K from the whirlpool of turmoil. PDP had a natural role for its mandate in Kashmir and BJP in Jammu. This alliance in the country’s only Muslim-majority State also adds diversity to BJP’s mandate”, Mufti added.

Mufti asserted that the recent Assembly elections, “fairest ever in last 60 years”, which witnessed a huge voter turnout, had restored the faith of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in democracy. Assembly, he said, had become a major power centre and an institution of credible representative character.

“In 1985, I contested and won the election from Jammu’s RS Pora. Today, the situation is totally different. PDP got only 28 seats in the Assembly elections but in the previous Lok Sabha elections it had maintained lead in 41 Assembly segments”.

Mufti gave credit to Vajpayee for initiating trade and diplomatic liaison with Pakistan and sounded optimistic of a smooth sailing yet again in 2015. He argued that maintenance of peace was a must for development and good governance and therefore the two countries needed to hold dialogue and also engage the “internal stakeholders” in the peace process.

He described J&K as a shining example of the country’s secular credentials which “defies the logic of the two-nation theory and has acceded to the Indian Union”.

Mufti said the example of the BJP and PDP coming together, despite ideological and political differences, can be a model for inclusive governance. He said as the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had turned his Srinagar visit into a historic opportunity to reach out to Pakistan and script the agenda for peace. “Our partnership with Prime Minister Narendra Modi could make the power structure at the national level more inclusive and diverse” he added.

Referring to incidents at Chhatergam and Macchil, Mufti asserted that his Government was committed to take measures and examine the need to review the special laws being applied to the State. “There has been a lot of debate over removal of AFSPA. There is a need to re-look at it. My Government advocates a phase-wise removal of AFSPA from the areas which have been free of militancy for quite some time”.  

Highlighting the purpose of the Alliance between PDP and BJP, the Chief Minister stated that the new Government shall be empowered to take confidence building measures within and across the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K, thereby ensuring lasting peace. “We want to create an enabling environment for all round economic development of the State,” he said.

Chief Minister said that the Union Government had released Rs. 1,000 crore under “Prime Minister’s Package for Floods” for restoration of damage to public assets over and above around Rs. 1,100 crore already available with the State government under NDRF for emergency relief and temporary restoration. An amount of Rs. 820 crore, he said, had been spent under SDRF. “The work on commencement of permanent restoration has already begun. We are separately pursuing the release of a special package that would cater to the requirements of the affected people”.

Mufti described the Pakistani refugees settled in Jammu as a “human problem” but made it clear that the State government could not give them government jobs. He clarified that the livelihood boost as mentioned in the “Agenda for Alliance” means that his government would help the refugees in getting jobs in private sector.He said that a committee to be headed by Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh would address the whole gamut of the refugees problem even as the refugees from PoK would get “one-time settlement package”.

Mufti said that in absence of the Kashmiri Pandits, the valley’s social fabric was incomplete and his government would encourage the migrants’ return and settle them in community villages like Hall in Pulwma-Shopian belt where all of the deserted houses were standing intact. His government would create “an enabling peaceful environment”.

 END