‘Jammu and Kashmir cannot be treated as enemy territory’, says Mehbooba Mufti after resigning
She said she had informed Governor NN Vohra that her party was not interested in forming an alliance to stay in power.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti submitted her resignation to Governor NN Vohra on Tuesday shortly after the Bharatiya Janata Party pulled out of the coalition government, ANI reported. The PDP has 28 seats in the 87-member Assembly while the BJP has 25.
“I am not shocked as this alliance was never for power,” Mufti told reporters at a press conference. “PDP never believed in power politics and we worked for the people. We formed the alliance with BJP because we shared a grand vision after the elections. It took us months to form an alliance whose prime focus was reconciliation and dialogue.”
Mufti said the government had taken several steps to improve the situation in the state. “We wanted a unilateral ceasefire, but unfortunately we didn’t get an appropriate response.” Mufti said Jammu and Kashmir was not an “enemy territory” and muscular policy will not work in the state. “We will continue to try and maintain dialogue and reconciliation in the future as well,” she added.
The PDP chief said her party members had faced a lot of trouble in the state but that they had tried their best to work with the BJP. She said she had told the governor that the PDP was not interested in forming any alliance to stay in power.
Mufti said her government had safeguarded Article 370 that grants special, autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir. “We have been able to withdraw 11,000 cases against stone-pelters,” she added.
Earlier in the day, the BJP said it was ending its alliance with the PDP and called for governor’s rule in the state. “It has become untenable for [the] BJP to continue with the alliance in Jammu and Kashmir,” said National General Secretary Ram Madhav during a press conference in Delhi. “Keeping in mind that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and in order to control the prevailing situation in the state, we have decided that the reins of power in the state be handed over to the governor.”
Madhav said terrorism and violence are on the rise in Kashmir and radicalisation is also growing fast. Citing the murder of journalist Shujaat Bukhari in Srinagar on June 14, he said press freedom and freedom of speech in the country was under attack.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and other officers in New Delhi.