CM releases book on Mufti, gets emotional

JAMMU: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today broke down during a function organised to release the book on his father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed

Updated At : 05:59 AM Jan 14, 2017 IST

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti breaks down during the release of a book on her father in Jammu on Friday. PTI

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 13

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today broke down during a function organised to release the book on his father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. When she could not control her emotions, the Chief Minister left the dais, cutting short her speech.

After releasing the book “Remembering Mufti Mohammad Sayeed”, compiled by Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) and journalist Firdous Tak, Mehbooba went to the dais to address the gathering but she could not speak for some time as she struggled to control her emotions. During her four-minute speech in which she recalled the qualities of her father, Mehbooba broke down at least thrice. When she was referring to the qualities of her father as mentioned by Lok Sabha member Muzaffar Hussain Baig, she could not control her emotions and with tears rolling down her face cut short her speech and left the dais.

Earlier in her speech, the Chief Minister said the late Mufti Sayeed always dreamt about his people and their welfare. She said he would always advise her that service to mankind was the biggest prayer before God. Mehbooba also launched the website ‘www.muftisayeed.com’ on the occasion. It contains videos and pictures of the former Chief Minister besides his speeches and interviews.

Meanwhile, Baig, a confidant of Mufti Sayeed and one of the founder members of the PDP, seized the opportunity to give a warning to the party ministers who are facing allegations of being inaccessible. “Treat party workers and the masses with a humane approach,” Baigh told PDP ministers, adding that “the biggest quality of Mufti Sayeed was that he treated every worker equally, be it a senior leader or a village-level activist”.

“I too remained in power. I know that it is difficult to meet all demands of workers but we must at least treat them properly,” he said.

Sending out a message to the new entrants in the PDP, Baig reminded the gathering how the party was formed by Mufti Sayeed, braving all pulls and pressures. “The party was formed with only 203 persons. The very next day 50 persons withdrew from it the and 153 people were left to run the regional party in J&K,” Baig said while disclosing that top leaders of the Congress had warned Mufti Sayeed against leaving the party at that point of time. Baig, however, said that after the formation of the PDP-Congress government in J&K in 2002, the Congress high command had more faith in Mufti Sayeed than in their own leaders. He said unlike other politicians, Mufti Sayeed never promised what he could not deliver and he possessed the unique knack of carrying everybody along.