PDP leader and former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, after her re-election as president of her party on Tuesday in Anantnag, said that the Kashmir issue is not about roads and development but a “far bigger issue”.
“Jammu and Kashmir issue is not about roads and lanes but a far bigger issue. When there is peace, roads and lanes would be laid automatically. They can even be made by DDC members elected recently,” Mehbooba told her workers at Anantnag in South Kashmir on Tuesday.
“People of Jammu and Kashmir have been living through uneasiness and anxiety for the last 70 years. Thousands of people have been sacrificed whether a militant, a surrendered militant, a common man, a policeman or a security forces personnel,” she added.
Mehbooba said that India-Pakistan dialogue was the only way out for the Kashmir issue and said that New Delhi will have to restore back whatever it has snatched from the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“They get angry when I say BJP will have to give us all back with interest. Should I ask for rights from Pakistan and China? We are asking for the restoration of Article 370, from Parliament which snatched it from us illegally” Mehbooba was quoted by news agencies saying so at Anantnag in South Kashmir.
Appealing children and their parents in Kashmir to shun the path of violence, Mehbooba said that gun will only give us a label of being terrorists and delegitimise our struggle for our rights and aspirations. She said that the youth should leave the path of violence and should learn from the protests being held by the farmers peacefully on the borders of New Delhi.
She said that farmers are getting support from all corners including at the global level only because they are not wielding any gun or stone. She said that people of Jammu and Kashmir should seriously look at the farmers’ agitation and start a similar pattern of protests so that New Delhi is forced to restore the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.