Now Out Of Coalition, Mehbooba Takes On Amit Shah

As the Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah blamed discrimination against Jammu and Ladakh as the main reason responsible for his party’s withdrawal of the support to the coalition government, the PDP today hit back at the BJP president saying, “Shah has been quite careless while presenting the actual facts to the people during his speech.”

Leading the counter-charge, the PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said, “Many false charges levelled against us by our former allies. Our commitment to the Agenda of Alliance, co-authored by Ram Madhav and endorsed by senior leaders like Rajnath Ji never wavered. It is sad to see them disown their own initiative & label it a 'soft approach.”

In series of tweets, Mehbooba said, “Status quo on Article 370, dialogue with Pakistan & Hurriyat were a part of AoA. Encouraging dialogue, withdrawing cases against stone pelters & the unilateral ceasefire were much-needed measures to restore confidence on the ground. This was recognized & endorsed by BJP.”

She said allegations of discrimination against Jammu and Ladakh have no basis in reality. “Yes, the valley has been in turmoil for a long time and the floods of 2014 were a setback, therefore needed focused attention. But that does not mean that there was any less development elsewhere”, Mehbooba said.

“Results on the ground for all to see. If anything they should review the performance of their own ministers, who largely represented the Jammu region if there were any such concerns, none among them either at state or central level talked about it during the last 3 years,” the former Chief Minister said.

“Not handing over the Rasana rape & murder case to CBI, getting the pro rapist ministers removed & also issuing orders not to harass the Gujjar & Bakarwal community in the guise of anti encroachment drives were my duties as CM to provide a sense of security to both communities”, she added.

She said after expressing concern about freedom of expression in J&K following assassination of Rising Kashmir Editor Shujaat Bukhari, their (BJP) MLA, “notorious & even punished for his role in the aftermath of the unfortunate Kathua case still threatens journalists belonging to the valley, so what are they going to do about him?”.

On the anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Amit Shah Saturday justified breaking up an alliance with the PDP saying that the BJP would sacrifice any government for the peace and security of the region. “We don’t regret fall of our government. Last year when I came to Jammu and Kashmir, we were in the coalition government. Now we have taken support back. Political parties regret when their govt falls but BJP is the only party that says bharat mata ki jai,” he said.

Shah went on to say that the foundation of the alliance between the BJP and the PDP were the three points: ensuring equal development of all three regions, making certain peace and security in the region and also Jammu and Kashmir would remain part of India. He described the three points as the Agenda of Alliance between the two parties.

The BJP leader said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi government gave Rs 80,000 crores economic package for the development of the State and in past three years the party persisted with the coalition partner to carry forward equal development in the state and ensure peace and security. But he said the development projects were not carried evenly in all three regions and the peace was shattered due to abduction and killing of an Army person Aurungzeb and the assassination of an Editor, Shujaat Bukhari.

He said the Army continued to be under attack and the stone throwing increased making it necessary to break away from the coalition. “We thought it is better to be in the opposition…Many people were telling me why we broke up an alliance. I told them I will narrate it to Jammu people as they have given us the vote,” Shah said.

The PDP’s also chose senior leader Abdul Rehman Veeri to target Shah. Veeri said that the coalition government in the state came into existence in March 2015- soon after the catastrophic floods had wrecked havoc in Valley, damaging public and private infrastructure at a very large scale. Veeri said Valley deserved special attention during the government’s first year as the bridges, roads hospitals, schools and other vital infrastructures were badly damaged in the ravaging 2014 floods. “But is not based on facts that Jammu and Ladakh faced the neglect of any sort. Equitable development of all the three regions remained a top priority of the government and Jammu and Ladakh were equally benefitted by the governance of the previous coalition,” Veeri said.

Veeri said the statement by Amit Shah in Jammu has been made for political benefits but the fact remains that such rhetoric wouldn’t help the sensitive state like Jammu and Kashmir in any way. He added that PDP worked at the forefront to present Jammu and Kashmir as a composite state and not to let anyone fragment it on any ground.