Mehbooba Mufti: ‘Vajpayee's ‘Insaniyat, Jamhuriyat, Kashmiriyat' is the only way forward… Omar just toeing BJP line over statehood'

Indian Express

a day ago

On the sixth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti speaks to The Indian Express about a range of issues including the prevailing political situation and her party's performance in last year's Assembly elections. Excerpts:
A lot has changed since 2019. How do you see the transition from an unelected government to an elected one?
People were tired and suffocated by the bureaucratic rule. The whole place had been converted into an open jail… Nobody could speak or express their thoughts freely. They had high hopes from an elected government and hence, voted in a one-sided fashion (in favour of the National Conference).
Even though people gave the current dispensation a majority in the Assembly polls and three MPs, including one from Ladakh, nothing seems to have changed. Without getting into the nitty-gritty, the suffocation remains the same. There has been no improvement in governance and on basic issues like electricity despite promising free power. There is also unemployment.
On the political front, the aspirations of people have been ignored. It seems like there is no elected government in place. This is very unfortunate because if people lose faith even after turning up to vote in such large numbers, there is nothing left.
How do you rate the Omar Abdullah-led NC government's performance?
Recently, I was telling someone that high-profile separatist leaders falling sick at least becomes an issue but what about poor people who are behind bars? They cannot afford litigation. What about their health and well-being? The government should have been able to intervene in many issues but they have not. Unfortunately, they are doing the same as the BJP, which wanted to have a narrative surrounding statehood. The Congress, which has its own limitations, is following suit. The NC has come up only to the statehood-level.
The NC manifesto spoke about people's aspirations like Article 370, dignity, political prisoners, etc and made promises on the governance front. Do you think they have delivered?
I do not want to get into the ratings. As a Kashmiri – when I say Kashmiri, it also includes Jammu – I feel sad because we have been suffering since 2019. Everybody, including high-profile politicians like us, were placed under house arrest. My mother and I were called by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and our passports were confiscated.
We can imagine what happened to local people. We heaved a sigh of relief that an elected government, albeit not of the PDP, would make a difference but nothing has changed.
I felt very bad when I saw Farooq (Abdullah) sahib and Omar welcoming Kiren Rijiju, the same person who in Parliament had tabled the Waqf Bill, that left every Muslim feeling disempowered and dejected.
How do you view the events of July 13-14 (Martyrs' Day)?
Firstly, Omar should not have been in Delhi on that day and should have faced house arrest here. What he did on July 14, he could have done it a day earlier. I do not know why he did that.
Similarly, when we wanted to introduce a resolution against the Waqf Bill (in the Assembly in Jammu), he chose to be in Srinagar. It seems to be a deliberate attempt to be away from the scene to make up an alibi.
Was the Assembly election results surprising for the PDP, which won only three seats?
I was not surprised but we expected to win a couple of more seats. Our party was broken. Everyone, including ex-legislators, ministers and MPs, were taken away from us. It takes years and years to build and groom a person.
In 2018, they (NC) started dismembering our party and pressuring everybody. After my release in 2019, after every small meeting, our workers would receive a call from the police asking them to report at the police station. Everyone who stood by me was under tremendous pressure.
In politics, there are ups and downs. Our party is picking up again.
Did you analyse what went wrong and why?
People voted en masse for one party (NC) as they wanted to keep the BJP away and at the time, the PDP looked like a broken party. We did not even have candidates for some seats. So, people made a conscious decision and overwhelmingly chose the NC. They thought if the PDP gets even 10-12 seats, the BJP may poach legislators.
Do you think the PDP faced the consequences of allying with the BJP in 2015?
Allying with the BJP was a conscious decision that my father (Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) took despite Omar and Congress offering their support to him. If he wanted to be the CM and just form the government, he could have taken their (NC and Congress) support.
My father understood that Jammu and Kashmir is the flashpoint and believed that a resolution was possible by allying with the BJP, which had a huge mandate (at the Centre).
Very few PMs have had authority. (Former PM) Manmohan Singh wanted to visit Pakistan but could not. He signed the Sharm al Sheikh Accord and had to retract after his own party questioned him. However, Modi went to Lahore without an invitation and nobody questioned him. My father saw that if this person (Modi) could be persuaded to toe (former PM) Atal Bihari Vajpayee's policy, we could take forward what he had started.
But things did not turn out that way…
It is true that Modi did not turn out to be Vajpayee but why do you forget that I was the only CM who wrote to the separatists to inform them that a high-level delegation was coming to talk to you. I also withdrew 12,000 FIRs at the peak of the stone-pelting period. There was a ceasefire and an offer of dialogue. This had never happened before.
Do you feel that it is time to apologise for the alliance with BJP?
As I said, it was a conscious decision. Today, even with 50 MLAs, the first statement Omar gave was that he would not have any confrontation with the Centre. The only thing he has been talking about is statehood and is fighting them over transfers.
The PDP had an agreement with them (BJP) on larger things like Article 370, which they did not touch till I shared power with them. We had agreements with them on power projects and the Kargil-Iskardu road. Maybe a common Kashmiri may not understand this, but we tried to avoid a 2019-like scenario. We acted like a buffer.
Though the PDP slams the Omar government, it is seen to be silent on the Lieutenant Governor?
We criticise the Omar government as it has been elected by the people. The L-G has been there since 2019 and we have been criticising him all through. Now, the elected government has to deliver on electricity, roads, health, education and give us some relief. They have to talk about issues which are not directly under their control, but they do not even do that.
Over the last five years, your statements have gone beyond Kashmir. Recently, you spoke about the plight of Indian Muslims…
That is the reason I am dejected with the NC leadership. Who is going to talk about Indian Muslims if not the only Muslim-majoirty state? No other party, including the Congress with the exception of Rahul Gandhi, will speak about Muslims, who are being lynched. Now, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar is going to disenfranchise us. They are demolishing mosques, our houses and taking our businesses away. Someone needs to talk.
Do you still see Vajpayee's 'Insaniyat, Jamhuriyat, Kashmiriyat' as a way forward?
There is no other way if we do not want to end up in a nuclear war. I think even the NDA government realises that nothing has changed in Kashmir by using force, and enforcing draconian laws like the UAPA and PSA. It has maybe worsened.
We may try to camouflage by having children play sports and raise flags but the Kashmiri is very angry and hurt within. Unless this hurt is not addressed the way Vajpayee tried to, I do not think it is going to get better.
How do you view the narrative of peace and development that has been built over the past five years?
It is just a narrative that the media propagates. I think the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor have given them (Govt) a fair idea that whatever they are trying to portray is not really happening on the ground. I hope they course correct and not go the other way because I am apprehensive that things may worsen. You either learn your lesson and correct mistakes or get so frustrated that you want to break things.