But why raids are being conducted and people being thrown out of jobs in the name of militancy, asks PDP chief.
With the collapse of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD)—an alliance of the various parties in Jammu and Kashmir against the BJP—Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is now seen to be walking the tightrope as an I.N.D.I.A. partner of the Congress at the national level, but as a standalone party contesting against the Abdullahs’ National Conference and the Congress in Kashmir. Although Congress will be backing the NC in Kashmir on all seats, yet PDP is said to be giving unconditional support to Congress in Jammu, in an apparent effort to stop the saffron camp there. The ex Chief Minister of Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti spoke with The Sunday Guardian. Excerpts:
Q: You said Farooq Abdullah did not consider you for discussions on seat sharing. Now that they have declared no alliance with PDP, is it because NC doesn’t want PDP to establish itself on a bigger platform or are there other reasons?
A: One needs to have the mindset of tolerating other people. If you recall what happened in 1987. It resulted in so much of bloodshed due to the same reason that there was a group of people in Opposition and the ruling party did not want anyone to come from the Opposition. They did not want to share the democratic space with the Opposition. Therefore the elections were rigged which started the armed conflict in Kashmir. Today I feel that when we had I.N.D.I.A. meetings, I had suggested Farooq Sahab’s name, that he be the one to decide as he is the most senior leader. My point wasn’t that they wanted to contest on all seats, my point is when I gave someone the authority (as a chief of PDP) and responsibility to decide the future of the alliance, they should at least have had the courtesy to talk to me and tell me that this is our decision. No matter what the reason may have been. So I feel they (NC) don’t want to share the democratic space with anyone as far as Kashmir is concerned.
Q: Omar Abdullah said we wanted her (Mehbooba) to support us in the coming elections. What kind of support is he talking about?
A: I don’t know. Whenever there was an issue Farooq Sahab would call me, then I would go and discuss it, and that approach was there even during the DDC elections when there were certain problems regarding certain seats. This time when there is a bigger issue like Parliament elections to discuss, he should have said we are going to contest all the seats. It’s in the larger interest of Jammu and Kashmir state so you support us, but they did not bother to do that. They just announced it from the rooftops. I heard it from the media that they are going to contest all three seats because they say that PDP is on number 4th or 5th, that’s what Omar Sahab said and that is very unfortunate.
Q: Did it hurt you?
A: It did not hurt me only; it hurt my workers the most. It hit them very hard; it was like insulting them that you are nowhere. PDP workers had been paying a high price by being in PDP despite all the pressures and suppression. The way they have broken PDP, the way they are after us, after the workers, they have withstood the pressure. And now to say something like that…it hit them very hard.
Q: You have been backing Rahul Gandhi all through his yatras. Do you think Congress failed to negotiate a deal in favour of PDP when it came to an alliance in Kashmir?
A: I don’t think so. The situation is as such that the NC made it a point that they are going to support Congress and they should support them back. As far as I am concerned, I am not supporting Rahul Gandhi because I want something from him or from his party. I am supporting because we all have to see the larger aspect. The country is going through a terrible phase. They have already started subverting the Constitution of the country by bringing in discriminatory laws like CAA which are based on religion, love jihad and anti minority laws. So it is in the larger interest of everybody including Jammu and Kashmir that we stand in an alliance. By that we stand for the Constitution of the country. When they abrogated Article 370, that was an event against their own Constitution. That is a different story how Supreme Court gave the judgement. But at this point of time saving the Constitution is more important than thinking about who doesn’t support us.
Q: After your alliance with the BJP, PDP saw its leaders leaving the party. At what point did you think the party is in a free fall and you need to rebuild the cadre and where does it stand now?
A: When I refused to form the government with BJP in 2016 for almost three months, it was then I sensed that they were trying to break my party and then I heard that one of the group leaders (within PDP) went to Nagpur and started negotiating. They had started the process at that point of time. But since my father had made a commitment with them and there was an agenda of alliance we continued with it. But after they withdrew from the alliance, they had a plan of action on what they had to do after that. As long as we were in power they could not revoke Article 370. That was a commitment. I would not have allowed them to do that. And they knew that PDP was going to be a biggest road block for them in that process. So they started working on destroying the party. They blackmailed some of the leaders. Others were lured. Fortunately, the majority of workers stood by me because they believe in the vision and agenda of Mufti Sahab.
Q: How instrumental has your daughter Iltija Mufti been in public outreach activity of the PDP?
A: (Smiling) I think that is something you should ask her. She is my daughter so I don’t want to sound partial. She has some good qualities in her and she is able to interact with people. She feels very comfortable in that space. And that is something she has in her.
Q: Party insiders say that you were not ready to contest but it was your daughter (Iltija) who convinced you to contest the elections. Why didn’t you want to contest?
A: It is true that I did not want to contest but it is not only my daughter who convinced me to contest. It is also the situation. I have been raising my voice against the abrogation of Article 370. That is the reason I think my voice can be more effective when it can be heard not only at the national level but also at the international level if I am in Parliament. That is what pushed me into this.
Q: Sometime back there were murmurs within your party that PDP could field Iltija Mufti in Anantnag LS segment. Was there such a consideration?
A: (Smiling) There is nothing like that. These are just rumours. She has traction among young people. There was demand not only from the youngsters of the party but also outsiders like journalists and others. But I feel this constituency is a challenge. She could have done a very good job but at this point of time I may be in a better position to give voice to the voiceless people.
Q: Who is your main opponent in Anantnag?
A: We don’t know. At this point of time there are two that is National Conference and me who are the main candidates. We don’t take others that seriously. At this point of time it is between these two parties.
Q: Now the Centre will nominate 5 legislators to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. How do you see that?
A: That has been their purpose from the very beginning, to disempower and to dispossess the people of Kashmir, the majority Muslim community in Kashmir. That is the game plan. They want to implement Hindutva agenda, the Godse agenda. They have converted Kashmir into a laboratory and whatever happens here they’ll take it to the other parts of India. Like, we see Kejriwal’s (Delhi CM) arrest and Hemant Soren’s (Jharkhand CM) arrest.
Q: There is an understanding that even when Article 370 was in place, it did not play a consequential role in J&K’s governance model. Now that it has been abrogated, let’s say PDP comes back to power in J&K, what is it that your government won’t be able to do what it was able to do when 370 was in place?
A: First of all, the laws passed by Parliament would not be applicable to Kashmir unless they were passed in our Assembly. It was the most powerful Assembly in India. You could make your own laws according to your suitability. They are trying to ignore it (abrogation of Article 370) by saying that there was nothing in it. Another thing that comes from it was to decimate that Kashmiri identity.
Q: During the NC and PDP governments a lot of people would get detained under PSA, now under the Centre’s rule there is a change. There are comparatively fewer detentions. What do you have to say about that?
A: Who says that? There are more detentions. Moreover as of now there is no stone pelting, and militancy has also gone down, but why are there these raids conducted every day? Why are people thrown out of jobs in the name of militancy and by dubbing them as militant sympathizers? Why are they refusing to give passports to people? So this is a kind of suppression. People get booked under PSA for asking for basic needs. When I was there at the helm or National Conference was there, the situation was different yet today they say everything is fine, but we have people in jails.