By News Agency of Kashmir
Srinagar: Launching an indirect attack on his successor, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and chief patron Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti Muhammad Sayeed today said that Congress led state government seems to have lost his interest in the peace process and confidence building measures.
Sources said that People’s Democratic Party (PDP) held an emergency meeting, here today, to decide whether to pull out of coalition or not. The meeting was taken in view of the recent controversies between the two alliance partners over some issues.
Mufti Muhammad Sayeed later told Media persons that his party the concerns expressed by the party leaders in the meeting would be discussed with the Congress leadership in New Delhi.
”We are authorized to take any decision, whatever we will wish to take. We have listened to the feelings of our rank and file and it’s our job to take a decision now,” said Mufti.
Meanwhile, in a statement, which is likely to give birth to another controversy between the coalition alliances, the PDP chief said that despite hard efforts during his tenure peace process seems to have lost both steam and direction due to the lack of interest of the state government.
Addressing PDP functionaries including ministers, legislators and office-bearers, here today, Sayeed expressed dismay over the waning interest of the State Government in the peace and confidence building process. Coalition Government, in its initial phase, led the process from the front with a telling impact on the ground due to which there had been unprecedented impact, not only on the State’s ground situation but on the Indo-Pak peace efforts as well, he said
“Unfortunately, of late, the process seems to have lost both steam and direction resulting in growing disillusionment of the people,” he said and added that such a discouraging trend has the potential of negating the initial gains.
Though PDP and Congress are on loggerheads on various issues, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed has always chosen to distance himself away from the controversies. This is for the first time that he has criticized (through indirectly) the chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for his policies.
Sayeed, sources told News Agency of Kashmir, said that the State Government must assume its full role in revitalizing and pushing forward the sagging peace process to rebuild the people’s confidence in it.
He further added that Jammu and Kashmir government has an extremely crucial role to play in representing the aspirations of the people and building consensus over the resolution of the State’s political and economic problems.
Asking his party cadres to be ready for the upcoming assembly elections, the PDP chief patron also asked the government of India to consider the demand of the party for troops reduction and revocation of AFSPA.
Sayeed said while his party extended unflinching support to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh in the constitution and functioning of the mechanism for the purpose, ironically, there has been no movement forward on the issue even after the submission of report by the concerned committees.
“I think the decision must be now taken on the issue without any further delay as initiating the process of troop reduction and revocation of AFSPA is in the interest of peace,” he said and added that the conflicting statements from various quarters on the issue is adding to the confusion.
Expressing discontentment over the dismal functioning of the present dispensation, majority of the participants observed that the Government’s negative and callous attitude is overshadowing the commendable work done during the first three year’s of the Coalition rule, a party spokesman told News Agency of Kashmir.
The party cadres blamed the present Government for completely dithered on the political and economic agenda of the Coalition Government resulting in an adverse impact on the ground.
“Time has come for the PDP to chalk out the strategy on how to ensure implementation of its pro-people agenda both on the political and economic fronts in the larger interest of the State’s peace and prosperity,” the meeting observed