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Mufti slams Farooq for imposition of governor's rule

Basharat Peer in Srinagar

The blame game has begun in Jammu & Kashmir following the failure of various political parties to come to an agreement on forming the next government. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, president of the People's Democratic Party, pointed his finger on Friday at former chief minister Farooq Abdullah for the imposition of governor's rule in the state.

"Dr Abdullah has deliberately plunged the state into a constitutional crisis," the Mufti told a public meeting, his first since the election, in Ganderbal, Abdullah's former constituency. "I fail to understand why he could not wait for three more days when he was ruling the state for the last six years. Statesmanship demands patience and perseverance, but Dr Abdullah has failed on both accounts."

He slammed the National Conference patron's remarks about his moral duty to resign. "He is the person who advocated war with Pakistan to settle scores," the Mufti pointed out. "He once said that if he were made prime minister for 36 hours, he would initiate war with Pakistan. And now he is talking of moral duty! The heavens would not have fallen had he shouldered his responsibility for three more days."

The former Union home minister, however, said his party was alive to the situation and would try to resolve the crisis in the next few days. "Governor's rule does not mean dissolution of the assembly," he told his audience. "There are apprehensions among the people that governor's rule will continue for six months. But I assure you that we will honour the people's verdict and try to solve this crisis within a few days."

But he added that the PDP would not compromise on its "basic principles". Emphasising that his party wants the initiation of a dialogue with all sections of Kashmiri society and a stop to the violence and bloodshed, Sayeed said, "We want all political prisoners to be released. And we want the development of this state. And for that we need liberal assistance from the Centre. We will not compromise on these issues. And we assure the people that we will not betray their trust."

He also urged the militants to stop their violent campaign because the new legislators would put across the people's perspective in the assembly.

He called for a healing touch for the people of Kashmir who are "sandwiched" between the security forces and the militants: "We want to heal their wounds. We have decided that we will provide relief to even those people whose bread-earner was a militant and fell to the bullets of the security forces."

The PDP president tried to dispel the notion that he or his party is hungering for power. "I resigned from the Rajiv Gandhi ministry," he said. "I resigned as Rajya Sabha member, and I left the Congress on principles. I am not power-hungry." He added that there were many senior leaders in his party who were capable of holding the post of chief minister.

At the rally, the Mufti introduced the newly elected legislators of his party to the people. Among them was Qazi Afzal, who defeated National Conference president Omar Abdullah in Ganderbal. But PDP vice-president Muzaffar Hussain Beig, who was elected from Baramulla, was conspicuous by his absence.

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