Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter, Iltija Mufti, has called upon the Modi government to hold talks with Pakistan and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference to find out the permanent solution of the Kashmir dispute.
Addressing a function in Jammu she also suggested opening of Jammu and Kashmir borders and implementation of self-rule to make the region an economic hub and a gateway between Central Asia and India.
“People of J&K are very much politically aware. The J&K problem needs to be resolved by taking all the stakeholders on board,” she stressed.
She said the people are disappointed and feel broken in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370. Asserting that Jammu and Kashmir has been turned into an open air prison, Iltija said, “We do not have the civil rights and liberties.”
“They want to disempower the people. They robbed our clothes and their intention is to shift the goal post but they have failed,” she said.
Iltija said the Modi government is trying to project tourism as a sign of normalcy but the fact is that the civilian killings have increased 20 percent since 2019. “…the peace they are talking about is graveyard silence which they have managed by filling up jails and creating fear among the people,” she said.
“J&K is strategically located and has many things common with central Asia,” she said and asked the Indian government to use the opportunity and make the borders irrelevant, facilitate self-rule, trade and movement of people for economic integration.
Asserting that she has no attraction for politics and media gaze, PDP chief’s daughter Iltija Mufti said she did not want to take a plunge into politics under the prevailing terrified atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir.
However, she did not completely rule out joining politics and said situations do come in one’s life which give direction as nobody knows the future. “…In the current atmosphere where the politicians have become journalists and the later stenographers, I do not want to do politics in such an atmosphere. Politics is about building your relationship with the public,” She added.
Referring to her statements after the detention of her mother under the Public Safety Act (PSA) following the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, she said, “I came forward and started talking because of a vacuum, otherwise I would not have as I have no glamour for both politics and camera.”
Iltija said it was her responsibility at that time and she had fulfilled that. “What is stored for me for the future, I do not know.”—KMS
