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Mufti slams BJP and NC over 'failure' on development and peace fronts in J&K

Jammu: Launching a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Conference (NC), People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Friday accused them of failing to deliver on development and peace in Jammu and Kashmir despite getting a huge mandate from people. She invoked former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's legacy and emphasized the region's issues cannot be solved from Delhi but only through unity among the people of Jammu and Kashmir. "The BJP, which has been in power both in Delhi and the Union Territory since 2018, has completely failed to bring peace and development to Jammu. Tell me, what has the BJP done for Jammu after getting 30 seats? Unemployment is at its peak, resources have been handed over to outsiders and inflation has broken people's backs," the PDP president said while addressing a function in connection with the party's 26th anniversary. She also accused the NC, which secured 50 seats, of offering empty promises without delivering any results. "Then comes the National Conference, saying give us votes and we will give free electricity, 12 gas cylinders a year, jobs to youth and stop the mining mafia from outside looting our sand and gravel. But now it's been a year and what has the BJP done -- the party to which you gave 30 seats? What has the National Conference done to whom you gave 50 seats? Nothing," said Mufti. "Until there is complete peace, there can be no development. The BJP keeps fooling the people of Jammu, while the National Conference continues to mislead the entire region," she added. The PDP chief stressed that peace must be established internally before looking to Delhi for solutions. "Mufti Mohammad Sayeed always said that the challenges of unemployment, underdevelopment and unrest affect the entire state -- not just one region," she said, adding Jammu and Kashmir remains backward despite abundant natural and human resources. "Mufti Sahab said that the issues of Jammu and Kashmir -- the unrest, the deteriorating situation and lack of progress -- must be addressed. Our state's water generates electricity for the entire country. We have Neelam stones here, which are considered precious. We also have high-quality marble. We have blue sapphire. Our youth are among the most intelligent in the country. Still, we are backward. Why?" the PDP chief asked. "Mufti Sahab believed that the solution to the problems of Jammu and Kashmir does not lie in Delhi, but here in our own state. People in Kashmir think one way and people in Jammu think another. When Kashmir moves in one direction, Jammu moves in other. Mufti Sahab used to sit in Jammu even during the summer. I would ask him why he was here in the heat and he would say -- until the people of Jammu and Kashmir think alike and walk the same path, the problem cannot be resolved," she said. Reaffirming the PDP's commitment to peace, Mufti recalled how her father had left the Congress to build a political alternative focused on dignity and dialogue. "Mufti Sahab didn't want peace through force, but peace with dignity," she said. "That's why Mufti Sahab said that he was leaving the Congress and forming this party -- because he wanted to restore peace. He wanted to end the rule of the gun in Kashmir. He wanted peace, not through force or at the barrel of a gun, but peace with dignity. That's what former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee also wanted," she added. "He didn't hand over Kashmir to Pakistan but talked about peace and development," the PDP chief said. Reflecting on the impact of conflict in the border areas like Poonch, she said, "For the first time, people in Jammu have seen what war truly means -- how children and women suffer. What do we gain from it?" The PDP president reiterated that her party was founded to promote peace with dignity. Taking potshots at the Centre's economic policies, she said, "Trump recently said India's economy is dead. We are giving free rations to 80 crore people because we can't provide employment. Our schools and hospitals are crumbling while we spend heavily on weapons to fight Pakistan." The PDP chief warned that rising global tensions and arms trade could provoke another India-Pakistan war. "Today, it takes just one blast in Kashmir or Jammu to start a war. China, the US, Israel -- they all want to test or sell weapons. It's easy to trigger a conflict and we will be the ones to suffer," she said. Targeting the BJP's political narrative, Mufti accused it of fuelling communal divisions for votes. "The BJP talks of divide, demolishes mosques and exploits Hindu-Muslim sentiments. This year alone, half a dozen tribal children have died in violence. I grew up here and never witnessed such a divide," she said. The PDP president urged both regions to walk together for the sake of progress. "When Mufti Sahab opened the road to Muzaffarabad, he also facilitated the opening of another one from Jammu to Rawalakot so that our Basmati rice could reach new markets," she said. "We have to end hostility and promote friendship. Enmity only brings destruction and dead bodies -- the bodies of children, the elderly and women," she added. Lambasting the BJP, Mufti said, "But the BJP gets votes across the country by invoking the Hindu-Muslim divide and on the dead bodies of this enmity. They play the Hindu-Muslim card. They demolish mosques. Just recently, Pravez (a Gujjar boy) was shot. And so far this year, half a dozen children from the tribal community have been killed." Mufti called upon the people of Jammu and Kashmir to unite under the PDP's banner to restore dignity, democracy and peace. "That's why Mufti Sahab used to say -- if peace is restored and enmity with Pakistan ends, then you all will be able to eliminate poverty in the state. As long as you continue to maintain hostility, it only involves Pakistan -- but what difference does it make to Pakistan? It is a country already drowning in its own crises and somehow surviving on that on loans."

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