The Election Interview/ PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti
'We won't compromise on our agenda'
Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party vice-president Mehbooba Mufti tells Chief Correspondent Onkar Singh that because her party won the mandate in the Kashmir valley, therefore the PDP should lead the coalition government in the state and that her father PDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed should be the state's new chief minister.
Why are the Congress and PDP fighting over the chief minister-ship and not forming the government despite the fact the people of the state expect them to work together?
We expect this kind of thing to happen because the people have given a fractured verdict. That is why this kind of situation has arisen.
Why has the issue of chief minister-ship become a stumbling block in the formation of a new government?
I would not put it that way. The people of Kashmir have voted for the PDP for resolution of the Kashmir issue. There are many things that are associated with it and these have been mentioned in our manifesto. We have promised the people the release of political prisoners who do not have heinous cases registered against them. We have promised to disband the Special Operations Group, which wreaked havoc in the state. We have pledged to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Disturbed Areas etc.
These promises have to be fulfilled. That is why it is important we have our own man at the helm of affairs so that he can implement the agenda. The chief minister has to be from the People's Democratic party.
So you are saying the PDP will settle for nothing less than its own chief minister, come what may.
I am saying so both directly as well as indirectly. Only the chief minister of our party would do justice to the people who have given us the mandate. We want our agenda to be fulfilled and only our own chief minister can achieve that goal.
Are you disappointed that the state has been put under governor's rule because of the Congress and PDP's failure to form a government?
Definitely. I would be disappointed because the people of Kashmir have high hopes and aspirations from this election process. The people of the state are excited about the defeat of the National Conference. If the people are disappointed that a popular government has been denied to the state, I naturally would be disappointed along with them.
Earlier, a formula was floated whereby one party would have the post of chief minister and the other one would get the deputy chief minister-ship. It seems there are no takers for the second post. Why?
It is not a question of chief minister or deputy chief minister. What is important to us is that we are committed to an agenda, and we are not going to compromise on that agenda.
State Congress president Ghulam Nabi Azad says the Congress being a national party can deliver better then the PDP, which is only a regional party.
I do not want to comment on his claim. All I can tell you is that our agenda is based on the real aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Kashmir in particular. As far as delivering the state from bloodshed and violence is concerned I think the PDP is the best thing that could have happened to the state.
You have been quoted by the media as saying you do not want to see Mr Azad as chief minister.
I have said nothing of this sort. I have nothing against Azadsaheb. He is like my elder brother and we spent lot of time together when he started his career in the Congress and my father was a tall leader in the party. The comments attributed to me were said in a different context. I have personally nothing against Ghulam Nabi Azad.
How would the PDP work for the people if you are not in power and you are forced to sit in the Opposition?
We have not been in power for the last six years and yet we managed to do a lot for the people in our own humble way. When we could work without being in the legislature, now we have 16 MLAs in the newly constituted assembly. This is a big force.
If we are not in a position to form a government we would sit in the Opposition and serve the people to the best of our capabilities.
There is a view that some of your party's resolutions like the disbanding of the Special Operations Group and the release of militants would boost militancy in the state.
I don't think so. Let me clarify that till 1996 when Farooq Abdullah took over power, militancy was its lowest ebb in the state. If you look at the deeds of the SOG you would find that terrorism has spread to Jammu province also, which was not the case before. The security forces had done their job till 1996 and they were capable of containing militancy.
After the SOG came into being the atrocities on the people increased manifold and thereby indirectly helped militancy to grow. Disbanding this organisation does not mean they would be out of jobs. They could be used elsewhere in getting information.
We get hurt because these are Kashmiris who inflict atrocities on the people. They have been resorting to extortion, looting and blackmailing innocent people. They have to be made accountable, which is not the case now. They are a law unto themselves. By killing one militant they have created hundreds.
As far as releasing the militants is concerned we have already said that only those youth who have been languishing in jail for the last 10 years or more and against whom there are no heinous charges would be released. This is a human gesture. If we do not give our government a human face, then how are we going to be different from Dr Farooq Abdullah's government?
What is better -- Mufti as chief minister or his daughter Mehbooba as deputy chief minister?
(Laughs.) I would rather have a PDP chief minister than have a PDP deputy chief minister.
So Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has to be chief minister and no one else. Is that correct?
It is the internal matter of our party. Our newly elected members would meet and they would decide the leader.
Why not a chief minister from Jammu? Isn't Jammu also part of the state? (Ghulam Nabi Azad hails from Doda in Jammu).
Jammu is part of the state but the people of Jammu do not face the same kind of difficulties that we face in Kashmir. Besides, it is the PDP, which bagged all its seats from the valley - 16 of them -- and defeated the National Conference. So it would be in the interest of the state if the chief minister comes from Kashmir and not from Jammu.
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