Asif Malik
Srinagar, May 17 : The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday pitched for a comprehensive dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad, insisting that any such process must begin with the people of Kashmir.
Address a party workers’ convention here, PDP Chief as per news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS) referred to recent remarks by a senior RSS functionary advocating talks with Pakistan and said the development was a “very good thing”. However, she added that the dialogue should not remain limited to the two governments.
“It should start from Kashmir. It should start from Jammu and Kashmir. This is what our people are demanding,” Mehbooba Mufti said.
She called for concrete confidence-building measures across the Line of Control (LoC), including the reopening of trade and travel routes closed between Uri and Muzaffarabad, and Rawalakot. “Open new roads. Send back army and civilian equipment. Return our power projects from NHPC,” she demanded.
“Dialogue with Pakistan. But also with the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” she asserted.
Mehbooba Mufti further urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to utilise his political capital to find a permanent resolution to the Kashmir issue. She recalled the Prime Minister’s unscheduled visit to Lahore in 2015, stating that PM Modi was not questioned then and enjoys the authority to take bold steps now.
“If PM Modi wants his name to be in the world and go back in history, then he has a golden opportunity to find a solution to the problem of Jammu and Kashmir, to put medicine on the wounds of the people, and to involve Pakistan in any way. I think this is the solution,” she said.
The PDP president also demanded the rollback of stringent laws, including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Public Safety Act (PSA), asserting that the people of Srinagar have made sacrifices and now deserve to “breathe freedom”.
She emphasised that the people of the Valley seek connectivity with Pakistan, China and Central Asia. “Open the roads for us,” she said. (KNS)
