CM silent on people’s issues, obsessed with PDP, says Mufti

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday accused Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of maintaining “silence” on issues concerning the people of the Union Territory, alleging that he remained preoccupied with criticising her party.

Speaking at a function to mark the 10th death anniversary of her father and PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Mehbooba said the CM was “obsessed” with the PDP.

“Today, if a youth raises his voice, he is arrested. Thousands are languishing in jails. I went to court, but was told who was I to talk about them. If we do not talk, then who will? They are poor and cannot afford to travel there. Where will they go?” she said.

“It was Omar’s job and not mine, but I do not know what world Omar lives in with his 50 MLAs and MPs that he does not talk about these issues. He only criticises the PDP. He is obsessed with the PDP,” she added.

On the issue of orchard land being acquired for railway projects in south Kashmir, Mehbooba said the CM failed to understand the importance of orchards for poor families and called upon the Centre to provide jobs to youth from families whose land was being taken.

Describing the PDP as her father’s legacy, she urged party workers to protect it. “The party is Mufti’s legacy. What will I do alone? It is for you to keep it alive. Whenever you get an opportunity, please pray for him,” she said, breaking down in tears.

The former Chief Minister said no other politician in Jammu and Kashmir had the “farsightedness” that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed possessed.

“I gave my youth and my life on his path as I knew the farsightedness that my father had. No other leader had that. Had it been so, we would not have been in this storm,” she said.

She asserted that while others sought positions of power, her father focused on people. “When I joined politics, People did not understand that he did not seek the chair; he had set out for the nation and for the people,” she added.