Early Times Report
JAMMU, June 1: On Tuesday, J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti hit the nail on the end and accused the NC of subverting democratic processes in Kashmir, which led to the rise of militancy in the Valley. Actually, she defended the decision of her late father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to stitch an alliance with the BJP, saying had he ignored the Jammu mandate and stitched alliance either with the NC or the Congress, the state would witnessed a situation it witnessed in 1987.
People of Jammu province had voted for the BJP and rejected all other parties, including the NC, the Congress, the PDP and the NPP. The BJP had won 25 seats out of 37 in Jammu and the remaining 12 seats were shared between the NC, the PDP and the Congress. One seat went to an independent candidate. The NPP could not open its account. As for the PDP, it had also won 25 seats in Kashmir. It could win only three seats from Jammu. Both the NC and the Congress had offered "unconditional" support to the PDP. The Congress had even talked "grand alliance" of the PDP, the NC, the Congress and independent Kashmiri MLAs.
However, late Mufti politely declined the offer and shook hands with the BJP after obtaining assurances from the BJP top brass that it would not touch Article 370 and also permit the PDP to implement the late Mufti's "vision" for J&K.
"The decision to ally with NC and Congress could have proved a disaster for the state. Such a decision would have repeated the situation of 1987. Syed Ali Geelani and Abdul Gani Lone were part of this assembly but they chose a different path (turned separatist) because the mandate of 1987 was dishonoured. It was not an election. It was a conspiracy and the repeat of such conspiracy could have pushed the state into chaos. Much blood has been spilled since 1947 in Jammu and Kashmir. We didn't want to spill more by disrespecting the mandate," she said while winding up the discussion on Motion of Thanks on Governor's address in the Legislative Council.
Mehbooba Mufti only spoke the truth. Undoubtedly, the 1987 assembly elections were not really elections. She rightly said that it was a "conspiracy". The NC and the Congress had rigged the elections wholesale in the Valley to keep the Muslim United Front (MUF) out of the Assembly. Had there been a free and fair elections, many MUF candidates, including Syed Salahuddin, presently Hizbul Mujahideen chief, would have won the election and the situation in the Valley would have been altogether different. It was the rigging of elections which converted the anger against the then ruling coalition into anti-India anger and the results are there in front of us.
The MUF had been formed by radical Kashmiri Muslims to provide an alternate to the NC, which had by 1987 become quite unpopular. The NC-Congress combination won the election but damaged the national cause in Kashmir. Ever since then, the nation has been witnessing anti-India troubles in the Valley.
Earlier, Mehbooba Mufti had called the NC's bluff and told the assembly that it was Sheikh Abdullah who inaugurated the first Sainik Colony in Jammu and that the matter for the setting up of a Sainik Colony in Kashmir was also discussed in 2012, when Omar Abdullah was the Chief Minister. |
