Separatists didn’t respond to dialogue offer: Mehbooba Mufti

SRINAGAR: Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has said that Hurriyat and militants did not respond to the PDP-BJP government’s ceasefire initiatives and attempts for beginning a dialogue with them. The PDP president said Union home minister Rajnath Singh gave repeated assurances on starting a genuine dialogue but there was no response from separatists, she said.

Addressing an election rally in north Kashmir’s Bandipora, Mufti said that the state lost an opportunity after the Centre appointed Dineshwar Sharma as special representative. “Hurriyat didn’t open doors for a Parliament delegation and never responded to repeated calls of Rajnath Singh ji. The month-long ceasefire did not receive a proper response either,” she said.

“India and Pakistan are on the brink of a war because of J&K. The Centre has to resolve the issue. Development is a regular process, but whosoever assumes power has to be convinced about starting a dialogue for resolution of the Kashmir issue,” Mufti said while urging voters to support PDP in the upcoming elections. She said that she managed to stop BJP from banning Jamaat-e-Islami during her tenure. The organisation was banned recently, followed by NIA raids on the residence of Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.


“Whenever there are general elections, Kashmiris are used to woo the electorate. In 2014, they hanged Afzal Guru, today they are showcasing the crackdown on Hurriyat and JeI,” she alleged. The PDP leader said that the dialogue process initiated by her father and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was frozen in time and no progress has been made.