Srinagar, March 3: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supremo Mehbooba Mufti strongly criticized the National Conference (NC) on Monday, accusing it of "validating" the abrogation of Article 370, and urged Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to actively defend the rights and dignity of his people.
Reacting sharply to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha's address during the opening day of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly's budget session, Mufti expressed disappointment that the government avoided mentioning the Assembly's resolution on Article 370 restoration, passed in November last year.
Highlighting a lack of proactive leadership from Abdullah, Mufti emphasized that her call for action does not demand he emulate former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal—recently jailed in connection with Delhi’s liquor policy case—but rather to demonstrate genuine concern for the region’s rights.
The former chief minister emphasized that Jammu and Kashmir's problems extend beyond the issue of statehood restoration, highlighting issues of property, mineral rights, employment, and dispossession faced by locals.
Mufti further recalled the PDP’s tenure in an alliance government with the BJP from 2015 to 2018, stressing that her party consistently resisted BJP's ideological agenda. She argued that the PDP's progressive stance, including granting amnesty to stone-pelters and initiating dialogue with separatists, had shaped the alliance's narrative, unlike the current scenario where she claims NC has surrendered to BJP pressures.
Criticizing the National Conference's stance on Article 370, Mufti noted that despite receiving a robust public mandate—securing around 70% of votes from the Kashmir Valley—the party has failed to challenge the BJP-led central government's move.
In August 2019, the central government abrogated Article 370, revoking Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and dividing it into two separate Union Territories.
