| One more wicket falls, Prof Mattoo announces his disassociation from PDP | | | Early Times Report
srinagar, Feb 22: In yet another setback to the Peoples Democratic Party, globally-acclaimed authority on Kashmir, Prof Amitabh Mattoo has announced his disassociation from the PDP.
Prof Mattoo, who was Advisor to the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and also to her father and predecessor Mufti Muhammad Sayeed in the previous PDP-BJP government, made his decision public through a social media post titled "Travelling Lite: Leaving Behind What Burdens you."
The academic said he had disassociated from the PDP some months ago but that he had not made the decision public since. "Some months ago, I decided to disassociate myself from the People's Democratic Party (PDP). I did this in a personal communication to the President of the PDP; we decided to keep the communication private," Prof Mattoo said in the post.
"Since then, and particularly of recent, many of my friends and critics have sought a clarification: am I part of the PDP? So here it is, as public as it can be! I do not belong to the PDP, nor do I belong to any other Party," he said.
Prof Mattoo who for the last few months is understood to be "working on a strategic plan to restore sustainable peace and prosperity in the state" is unlikely to get affiliated with any party or group.
"I feel I have enough agency as an independent thinker to be able to express my views, make them heard, sometimes to the point of threatening the establishment as an intellectual gadfly: an enfant terrible. Even those political leaders who are close to me, respect my choice of being autonomous and value the strength that this independence brings to my views or my counsel to them," he said in the post.
"My life philosophy has changed from one where I carried or saw a responsibility to carry the burden of the past and sought to navigate through the minefield of life (with people, positions & political orthodoxies) in search of elusive answers.
"Today, I experience maximum freedom when I do not have to search for it externally! I seek no journey to Ixtlan through a real or imagined Guru, and I can be as heterodox in my views because I have shed the excess baggage."
The academic said he "never belonged to PDP." "In many ways I never belonged to the PDP. My relationship with the Party was based on my relationship with the founder Patron, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Mufti Sahib, as I have often said, was the last great teacher I had, and (like all great teachers) he had greater faith in his student often more than I had in myself."
Despite repeated attempts Prof Mattoo couldn't be contacted for comments. But his office confirmed about the veracity of the post.
His office also confirmed that he is working on the "strategic plan" aimed at restoration of peace and prosperity in the region.
"He is likely to visit Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions in the coming weeks for some fresh negotiations," the Secretary told Early Times. |
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