There is hardly any satisfaction in contesting the Assembly elections if the Chief Minister cannot even take political decisions to withdraw the FIRs," said Mehbooba Mufti, former J&K Chief Minister and incumbent President of Peoples Democratic Party, while voicing her discontent over restricted role of the Chief Minister on Wednesday.
Mufti explained that she herself would not contest the forthcoming elections of the Assembly, but her party would.
Looking back on her stint as Chief Minister during her coalition government with the BJP, Mufti mentioned how the government withdrew FIRs against 12,000 people and implemented a ceasefire. She said one wonders if these things would be possible under this regime of Modi. "What is the role of a Chief Minister if one cannot even withdraw an FIR?" Mufti asked.
Asked about her decision not to participate in the elections in the wake of NC Vice President Omar Abdullah's flip-flop, Mufti said that his latest move to contest elections contradicted his previous stand for a boycott until J&K was restored to its full state status. Mufti referred to the fact that once upon a time, Abdullah had said even minor administrative decisions were approved by the Lieutenant Governor and underlined her apprehension regarding the effectiveness of such political stances.
Commenting on the alliance between the NC and Congress for the forthcoming elections, Mufti lashed out at the partnership as purely a poweroriented alliance, in sharp contrast to the alliances entered into by the PDP in the past, which were based on clearcut agendas. She cited the examples of past alliances, which included the 2002 partnership with Congress that facilitated the release of separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani to the 2014 alliance with BJP, which had commitments like the preservation of Article 370 and commitment for talks with Pakistan and Hurriyat Conference.
Mufti also hoped that personalities such as Sheikh Abdul Rashid and Shabir Ahmad Shah could be released from prison ahead of the elections. She called on the government to release not just those personalities but other eligible for bail yet remain incarcerated. "You can imprison people, you cannot imprison ideas. Democracy is a contest of ideas," she said.
Mufti also said the PDP is not a party of words alone, adding that it had fulfilled its promises with the repealing of POTA, opening of cross-LoC routes and talks with the Hurriyat Conference during the previous elections. She promised that issues such as the restoration of Article 370 would continue to be vital and significant in finding a resolution to the J&K problem.
The PDP has declared a list of candidates for different Assembly constituencies that include Bashir Ahmad Mir from Ganderbal, Mohammad Khursheed Alam from Eidgah, and Sheikh Gowhar Ali from Zadibal, besides many others for different constituencies of J&K.
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