Centre Adopted Godse's Idea Instead of Vajpayee's: PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti

Jammu: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti alleged that the Central government has adopted the idea of Nathuram Godse and not that of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

"In today's time, the world is treating us at par with Pakistan, which has a smaller area, smaller army and one tenth of our economy because we have shunned the policy of Vajpayee and followed the idea of Godse," Mufti said at a press conference in Jammu on Saturday.

The PDP president was in Jammu since Thursday, where she met the family of Gujjar youth Parvez Ahmed, who was killed in police firing and chaired the party's foundation day function at party headquarters on Friday. She was critical of the BJP-led NDA government's approach towards Jammu and Kashmir and policies which have evolved after August 5, 2019( the abrogation of Article 370, stripping the former state of its special status).

"The August 5 decision was a disaster which has only brought destruction to Jammu and Kashmir. This was done in the name of bringing peace, normalcy and development. But everything has failed, and the situation has further deteriorated. The two countries fought a war, and J&K was the flashpoint," Mufti said.

She said that though the war has ended, there is still a war-like situation everywhere in the country. "Unfortunately, such a situation has arisen in the country where every party is saying why the ceasefire was implemented and the war shouldn't have been stopped. This is the result of the aggression which the BJP has brought into the society, and all opposition parties have no choice but to toe the line, otherwise they will be labelled as anti-national. If anybody speaks against waging war against Pakistan or having a soft approach towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir, they are branded as anti-nationals," the former CM said.

Mufti believed that India had changed its foreign policy and sent various delegations to different countries to put their perspective on the war. "But at the same time, India has abandoned the SAARC countries, due to which we have issues here. On the other hand, China has hijacked the SAARC," she claimed.

Replying to a question on the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff by the United States of America (USA) on India, Mufti said, "It is because our foreign policy and diplomacy have failed. We have been imposed with a 25 per cent tariff against Pakistan's 19 per cent. It is because we have abandoned Nehru's policy of non-alignment and have fallen flat in front of the USA, due to which Trump is all over us by using long boots."

On holding talks with Pakistan, she said, "How many youth have been killed by China, but still our External Affairs Minister says China is a big economy and we have to talk to them. But when it comes to Pakistan, we want to be at war with them. This allows other countries to sell their weapons to us. How will we be able to work for people if we remain at loggerheads with Pakistan when all our energy goes behind the war with them? Everywhere in the world, reconciliation happens through dialogue, and before holding talks with Pakistan, reconciliation with the people of J&K must be done."

On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's charges of vote theft in the country, she said, "I think Rahul is telling the truth because whatever happened in Maharashtra, where one crore votes were added between the Parliamentary and Assembly polls. I think there is some connection between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the BJP government. India's beauty lies in democracy, and when you fiddle with it, how will we celebrate it?"

On Gujjar youth Parvez Ahmed's killing in Jammu, she said, "It is not about Parvez Ahmed only, but there has been a pattern of violence against tribal youth which we have seen from the beginning of this year. What happened to Makhan Din in Billawar, three youths in Shopian died, a youth was picked up and was said to have jumped into the river. The policemen who did all this are not Rakshaks (protectors) but Rakshas (devils). As far as Parvez Ahmed is concerned, the police itself has termed him a martyr, and I think there should be accountability and those responsible should be punished. The family should be compensated."

She asked the Centre to open the Agenda of Alliance (AOA), which was the basis of the formation of the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015, and implement the decision to address issues of Jammu. "Instead of coming up with a new idea of disaster, the BJP government should open AoA, do reconciliation, open routes and take forward the vision of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed," she added.

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