PDP leader Dr. Mehboob Beg has come out with a rebuttal to the issues recently raised by National Conference President and Vice-President.
“It is important that thepeople of the state are given the correct facts and that history is notdistorted. We have had various issues raised by the National Conferenceleadership during their recent media interactions and public rallies, which donot find much corroboration in history and most of them are not factuallycorrect either,” said Dr. Beg in a statement.
“Toseek to establish an impression that militancy in the valley had beencontrolled and has suddenly seen a rise is not correct. Parties have come andgone out of power, however, militancy has remained a constant and is directlyconnected with the ‘political resolution’ of the Kashmir issue. We have seen upsand downs in this regard, but the problem has remained. Those questioning theimplementation of Agenda of Alliance must first answer why they squandered-awaythe golden opportunity given to them in 1996. Dr. Farooq Abdullah had atwo-third majority in 1996, the people of the State had given him the completeauthority to dictate terms to the Union government, what happened then? Did iteven once occur to Dr. Abdullah that he could change the course of Kashmir’shistory, that he could play the hard ball, that he could seek certainassurances from the Central government before agreeing to take oath? Incomparison, the mandate given to the PDP in 2014 was by no means an absolutemandate, it was far from it. Yet, the PDP leadership was able to chart-out theAgenda of Alliance, ensuring that the all-powerful central government signed ona document that ensured no tampering with the special status enjoyed by thepeople of the State. The BJP had an intent to deceive is another matter, thatMehbooba Mufti was unflinching in her pro-people stand, to the utterinconvenience of Modi-Shah duo has been time and again accepted by Amit Shahand Ram Madhav,” remarked Dr.Beg.”While the NationalConference leadership has been asking questions left, right and centre, I wouldlike to pose a few questions of my own. Why Sheikh Sahab hurriedly took-over as the Chief Minister when Beg Sahab hadmade-out a case that Sheikh Sahab should take over as ‘Prime Minister’ of theState, a title befitting the status of the Supreme leader of Kashmir? SheikhSahab openly asked Beg Sahab not to raise the issue and cause hurdles toIndira Gandhi, why so? Beg-Parthasarthitalks mentioned that since the parties did not agree on many issues, they willrevert to the ‘principal parties’ (Sheikh Sahab and Indira Gandhi), whathappened then? Answers to all these questions are mandatory for us toget a clear perspective of Kashmir’s history and to know who played what role,”said Dr. Beg.