PDP to continue to fight for restoration of J&K's special status: Mehbooba Mufti

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said her party will continue to struggle for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's special status and asserted that India and Pakistan will have to sit across the dialogue table for the resolution of all outstanding issues, including Kashmir.

"We will continue with our struggle for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's special status.... We do not accept your (government's) decision of revoking it," she said at a party function.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said the special status to the erstwhile state was given by the Constitution of India.


"This position was not given by China or Pakistan. Why is the BJP government pained when we seek its restoration? We had acceded to India on certain conditions and one of them was to protect our identity," she said.

Mufti said the Centre will have to restore Jammu and Kashmir's special status.

"If you care about the people of Jammu and Kashmir, you will have to return what you have snatched from us," she said.

The PDP chief said India and Pakistan will have to hold talks for resolving their outstanding issues, including the problem of Jammu and Kashmir.

"One day the two countries have to sit together to resolve all the outstanding issues if they want peace in the region," she said.

Mufti said the SAARC summit should be held so that the issues between the two neighbouring countries are resolved.

"I hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes to Pakistan for the summit.... As (former prime minister) A B Vajpayee had said, we can change friends, but we cannot change neighbours," she added.