Mehbooba Mufti
Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for alleging that regional parties were working at Pakistan's behest, Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday that credentials of the NC and the PDP were not questioned when they were in alliance with the saffron party.
Mufti's remark came in the wake of BJP general secretary Ram Madhav alleging that the PDP and the NC had boycotted local body polls in the state earlier because of instructions from Pakistan.
The BJP leader, however, withdrew his words following a dare by NC leader Omar Abdullah to prove his charge.
“Shocked to see baseless allegations against mainstream parties in JK following dictates from Pakistan levelled by @rammadhavbjp ji,” PDP chief Mufti said in a series of tweets.
On Wednesday, PDP with the support of the National Conference (NC) and the Congress staked claim for forming government, but their efforts were cut short as Malik decided to dissolve the assembly, which was in suspended animation since June 19.
Questioning the BJP over casting aspersions over a party's nationalistic credentials, Mufti expressed sadness over reducing the political discourse of the country.
“Sad to see what the political discourse of our country has been reduced to. How does one define a party's nationalistic credentials? Nationalistic and patriotic only if you are with the Centre and Pakistan sponsored and anti nationalistic otherwise?” she said.
Mufti said all mainstream parties in Jammu and Kashmir have taken “grave risks” to bridge the “trust deficit that exists between people of the state vis a vis the country” and it was strange that their credentials were not questioned when the NC or the PDP was in alliance with the BJP.
“Both PDP and NC have been allies of BJP at some point. Strange that our credentials werent (were not) questioned then. But just because our MLAs had enough integrity to stand up to your (BJP's) failed attempts of defection, they are now anti nationalistic?” she tweeted.
The former chief minister said India is a great country and democracy is a battle of ideas and “lets not make a mockery of those very institutions and people”.
“We had aligned with the BJP to change this pernicious mindset. Undoubtedly Pakistan has an impact on the situation in J&K. But its upto our country to change that from negative to positive and tread the path that was taken by (former prime minister A B) Vajpayee ji,” she said.
( With inputs from PTI )
