People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti said on Sunday that the dialogue process initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Jammu and Kashmir’s mainstream leadership can gain credibility by ending what she called an “era of oppression and suppression” in the Union Territory, and in understanding that a dissenting voice is not a criminal act.
“Give the people right to breathe and rest will follow later,” the former chief minister said, terming the PM’s meeting with a 14-member delegation from Jammu and Kashmir here on Thursday as a way forward to end the “sufferings of people” in the erstwhile State now under Central rule.
Onus on Centre
Ms. Mufti, who was part of the delegation, made it clear that the onus was on the Centre to make the dialogue process credible, and said the Centre should initiate confidence building measures, and also ensure protection of jobs and land.
“When I say allow people to breathe, I mean that today, any dissenting note from any side has to cool his or her heels in the prison. Recently, a man was jailed for expressing his sentiments that he had lots of hope from a Kashmiri advisor. The concerned Deputy Commissioner ensured that he was in jail for a few days despite being granted bail by the court,” Ms. Mufti told PTI in an interview here.
At the landmark meeting, Mr. Modi had said he wanted to remove “Dilli ki doori” (distance from Delhi) as well as “Dil ki doori” (distance between hearts) in an effort to bring Delhi closer to the people of J&K.
“Dil ki doori has to be decreased with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and for that, all the draconian orders passed have to stop. Jobs and land rights have to be protected,” the PDP president said.
“First and foremost, the era of suppression and oppression has to come to an end and the government has to understand that a dissenting voice is not a criminal act. The entire State of Jammu and Kashmir, and I will refer to it only as a State, has become a jail,” she said.
Maintaining that she had taken part in the Delhi talks only to apprise the Central leadership of the problems faced by the people, Ms. Mufti said, “I have not come for any power politics as my stand is clear that I will not contest any elections until the special status of Jammu and Kashmir is restored.” Ms. Mufti also reiterated that she would not contest elections if J&K remained a Union Territory.
“I have made it clear many times that I would not contest any elections under the Union Territory, but at the same time my party is also aware of the fact that we will not yield political space to anyone. We contested the District Development Council elections held last year,” she said.
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