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| Kashmiri opinion makers set agenda for Mehbooba | | | News
ANALYSIS
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Jan 9: Convinced that the PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti, will take over as J&K Chief Minister sooner than later, Kashmiri opinion-makers have lost no time in setting an agenda for her. They have opined that "she has her hands full of challenges". They are right. After all, she will be the Chief Minister of the most difficult and complex State - State which consists of three distinct regions housing people having conflicting perceptions.
Significantly, there was nothing for Jammu and Ladakh in the agenda that they set for the would-be-Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. For them, the people of Jammu and Ladakh and their needs and compulsions were unworthy of any consideration.
The agenda that they set for her is patently and fundamentally Kashmir-centric and separatist-friendly. Besides, their agenda warned the would-be Chief Minister that she had to be very careful while dealing with what they called "untouchable" BJP, which, according to them, consistently "undermined the political realities of Kashmir".
"Though PDP and BJP seem to have survived the disagreements, one cannot rule out the possibility of plethora of issues like Article 370, AFSPA, Beef Ban and West Pakistan refugees, cropping up again in future and disturbing the coalition. Mehbooba will have to stand the test of time. She will have to keep watch of any adverse development involving BJP or its allied right-wing organizations like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) elsewhere," Kashmiri opinion makers like Suhail Ahmad have said. In other words, they have advised Mehbooba Mufti to scuttle all the moves of the BJP calculated to dilute Article 370, retain AFSPA, implement cow killing and beef eating laws in letter and spirit and grant citizenship rights to the refugees from Pakistan. They have warned her of serious consequences in case she fell into the BJP trap and dilute the Kashmiri Muslims' stand on Article 370, beef eating, AFSPA and refugees' demand for citizenship rights.
"Religious intolerance is going to be a constant nagging issue. Any anti-Muslim statement or action is bound to have a reaction in Kashmir. Mehbooba has to be mindful of the fact that any brazen advocacy of Hindutva discourse is bound to evoke a strong resentment in the valley," they have further warned Mehbooba Mufti.
"People will keenly watch whether Mehbooba will emulate her father's political shrewdness. She knows people in the valley are not particularly enthused about the PDP-BJP alliance. She will have to be extra cautious lest the fears of people come true. During the two-month-long political drama before the formal announcement of the PDP-BJP alliance, Mehbooba's party gave the impression that it was bargaining hard for things like revocation of AFSPA and dialogue with separatists and that it was not averse to relinquishing power for its principled stance", they have further opined.
To be more precise, they have asked Mehbooba Mufti to ensure revocation of the AFSPA and start dialogue with separatists so that the Kashmir issue was resolved as per their terms and conditions. In other words, they have asked Mehbooba Mufti to recognize Kashmiri separatists as the sole factor in the Kashmir's political situation.
Besides, they want Mehbooba Mufti to go beyond cross-LoC trade and bus service. "Mufti Mohammad Sayeed used to claim credit for confidence building measures like cross-LoC trade and bus service, his daughter will have to make efforts to take them to the next level".
The agenda they have set for Mehbooba Mufti is obviously divisive. Now the question to be asked is: Will she adopt it? As said in these columns in the today's issue of Early Times, the challenges before Mehbooba Mufti are many. She has to deal with Kashmir as well as Jammu and Ladakh and maintain a balance between the three regions and also keep New Delhi on her side. She cannot afford to devise policies which cater to the needs of Kashmiri Muslims and ignore the sentiments of the people of Jammu and Ladakh. Not only this, she has also to reassure New Delhi that her administration will leave no stone unturned to restore peace in the Valley by bringing to justice anti-nationals and the supporters of Pakistan and ISIS, who wave Pakistani and ISIS flags every Friday near Jamia Masjid, Srinagar. She will be successful if she adopts a holistic approach towards the issues facing the people inhabiting different regions of the State and the issues facing the nation in Kashmir. In Jammu and Ladakh, there is no problem, as they are nationalist to the core. |
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