Mehbooba Mufti Calls for United J&K Outreach to Centre, Urges Omar Abdullah to Lead Talks

Former Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti has written a letter to regional leaders, including incumbent Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, to launch a collective political outreach to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.

Mufti drew parallels to the positive progress achieved by the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) by jointly negotiating with the Centre.

“Only dialogue can deliver meaningful outcomes. If we want to restore the dignity and security of our people, a constructive dialogue with the Government of India is a much-needed imperative,” she said in the letter. 

 J&K at Crossroads

Mufti described J&K as being at a crossroads, marked by growing despair and disillusionment among the people.

“It necessitates a broad consensus above and across party and partisan lines to pull J&K out of the current debilitating stalemate,” she said.

Urging unity across the political spectrum in J&K Mufti asked leaders to shed disagreements and contrarian views arguing that the state requires a broad political consensus transcending party lines.

Mufti also asked leaders to refrain from engaging in political one-upmanship as well as credit appropriation for small political benefits.

“It must become a moment of unification in the largest interest of the people we all claim to represent,” the former CM said.

CM Abdullah Key to any Talks

Mufti appealed to CM Abdullah to take the lead and initiate talks for bringing all political parties together as he is the head of the elected government.

“This will set the ball rolling for us to formally reach out to the Central Government. Given the fact that disagreements and squabbling between regional parties have been detrimental to the collective interests of J&K, a reasonable consensus, especially post 2019, is the only solution. If Ladakh could do it, so can we,” she said.

She added that Abdullah’s participation in any such initiative would lend it greater credibility and is needed for its success.

Besides CM Abdullah, the letter was also forwarded to BJP Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hameed Karra, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, People’s Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone, Member of Parliament Engineer Rashid, J&K Aam Aadmi Party president Mehraj Malik, Peoples Democratic Front chairman Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, J&K National Panthers Party president Harsh Dev Singh, Shiv Sena (J&K unit) president Manish Sahni, Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti president Sanjay Tickoo, and Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee Chairman Jaspal Singh.