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| J&K headed for political boil | | Mufti rejects dialogue, threatens to withdraw support | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | June 25
Jammu and Kashmir seems to be headed for a major political chaos in the coming days as main coalition partner Peoples Democratic Party, spearheading protests in the Valley, today rejected an offer of the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to resolve the issue of transfer of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine through an all party meeting.
In a hard hitting statement, the PDP and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said that it is too late to discuss the issue at political level. He said nothing short of cancellation of land transfer order will work to resolve the issue.
The PDP, it may be mentioned here, has already issued an ultimatum to the Chief Minister to withdraw support from the government if land allotment orders were taken back by June 30. PDP sources said that the decision on withdrawal of support will be taken on June 30 on the arrival of party president Mehbooba Mufti who was is away in Berlin.
Reacting to an appeal of the Chief Minister he made at a press conference in Srinagar, the PDP patron Mufti reiterated his demand for immediate cancellation of the order diverting land for use by Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB). "The views and sentiments of the people over the issue have to be respected and responded to," he said.
Commenting on Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's idea of convening an all party meeting over the issue, the PDP Patron said it is too late for any such consultation now and if at all the consultation was needed at political level, it should have been done before the issuance of the order. "Responding to the public sentiment, the Government must cancel the order immediately," he said and added that the diversion of land to SASB is only an administrative order that can be nullified by another such order.
"The issuance of the land diversion order is a collective decision of the Government and we are not into any blame-game or post mortem," Sayeed said and added that a situation has arisen in the State because of the order which is very critical and it must be responded to beyond the party politics. "To me the best course would be to revoke the order and discuss the whole issue in a cool and considered manner," he said and added that as chief minister he resisted efforts of land transfer to SASB as he knew the consequences.
The PDP Patron said it is, perhaps, for the first time that the civil society in Kashmir has reacted so unitedly and effectively to a non-political, non-communal concern like environment and ecology. "We should not dub it anything religious or communal as that would be falling into a trap," he said and added the present scenario represents a positive shift in the people's mindset which should not be waylaid.
Sayeed said land is an emotive issue everywhere. "Take the example of Nandigram in West Bengal which created so much of tension and violence," he said and added that although there was no religious angle to the present situation in Kashmir, but still some quarters are trying to project it like that. "The present situation can't be allowed to dither any more as it could threaten the gains of the peace process that we have painstakingly made over the past six years," he said.
"Although I have been repeatedly cautioning about the overbearing and pro-active activities of the SASB, unfortunately, that note of caution was used not only to malign me personally and question my secular credentials, but a virtual gang-up of different parties throughout the State was engineered to scuttle any positive intervention on behalf of the Government," Sayeed said and added that the results of the pro-active attitude of the SASB authorities is now evident.
"The prevailing situation is holding a daunting challenge for us and I am sure with good sense prevailing on the Government, it would be defused immediately," he said. |
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