First Mufti remark, now Afzal Guru demand: PDP reveals its strategy for Kashmiri voters

Srinagar: Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s assertions that Pakistan allowed the peaceful conduct of polls in Jammu and Kashmir was not a slip of tongue but a deliberate attempt to address his constituency in Kashmir valley where the PDP-BJP alliance is being viewed as “sell-out” by his party to grab power.

A group of the party’s legislators on Monday demanding the remains of Afzal Guru be brought back to the valley is possibly another attempt to appeal to the party’s core constituency.

A top PDP leader told Firstpost that Mufti’s comments are consistent with the party’s agenda on Kashmir that includes holding talks with Pakistan as well as the Hurriyat Conference.

“The comments were made in a certain context but the media blew it out of proportion. Mufti Sahib has himself told prime minister Narendra Modi that the peaceful conduct of the recent historic elections would not have been possible, had Pakistan tried to spoil the atmosphere,” the PDP leader, wishing anonymity, told Firstpost..

However, before the outrage over Sayeed’s comments had died down the party sparked a fresh one with its leaders saying they wanted the state government to bring back the remains of Afzal Guru, who was hanged for his involvement in the 2001 Parliament attack.

A group of nine PDP leaders allegedly signed a note saying that the remains should be brought back.

“Our party has given a statement that the mortal remains of Afzal Guru should be brought back to the state. We stand firm on our demand,” Mohammad Khalil Band, the PDP’s MLA from Pulwama, told CNN-IBN.

The BJP like in the case of Sayeed’s comment chosen to remain mum and the only one to react was leader Subramanian Swamy.

“If PDP continues to speak outside Common Minimum Programme, will have to remove Article 370. If PDP continues speaking this language, they are only harming themselves,” he tweeted. The talks over the government formation dragged over two months as the two parties struggled to find a common ground over contentious issues including the revocation of AFSPA, the status of Article 370 and how the internal and external dimensions of the Kashmir issue would be addressed.

While the PDP has got the BJP on board to resume the dialogue process over Kashmir, sources said the two parties were not likely to spoil the atmosphere of the “historic moment” in Kashmir.

“The BJP will publicly dissociate itself from the statement of the PDP patriarch but the two parties will continue to pursue the agenda for reconciliation which includes dialogue with Pakistan as well as the Hurriyat,” sources said.

Noor Mohammad Baba, a political historian in Kashmir told Firstpost that Mufti’s statement would earn him “goodwill” both in Pakistan and well as in Kashmir.

“Mufti is a seasoned politician and he understands that the stifled boycott call by separatists played an important role in ensuring a record turnout of voters during the state assembly elections last year. Kashmir is already divided on this alliance. My assumption is that Mufti was trying to address a certain constituency in Kashmir and Pakistan.” Baba said.

However, the word in Jammu, is that the BJP has “compromised” on its core ideology in forming the alliance with the PDP. The state BJP leadership had promised the electorate that the chief minister would be from the Hindu majority region if the party came to power, a promise which was given up to pave the way for the PDP alliance.

On Sunday, there were protests in Jammu city and its outskirts on Sunday over the government formation. Angry anti-BJP protesters alleged that in its “lust for power,” the BJP had conveniently forgotten its stand on Article 370 and its promise to grant citizenship rights to West Pakistani refugees.

“People voted for the BJP because they thought they will have their own (Hindu) chief minister, but the party (BJP) has given up on all that it stood for,” Yaspal Sharma, a political activist who burnt BJP flags in Jammu said.

Similar accusations are being hurled in the Muslim majority Kashmir Valley at the PDP, which was built on a plank of soft-separatism and the advocacy of a joint mechanism between India and Pakistan to rule the divided Kashmir.

Rekha Choudhary, who teaches political science at the university of Jammu, says that Mufti made the remarks in a certain context but the media blew it out of proportion.

“Mufti was talking about a process (of elections) that witnessed almost zero militant attacks and no boycott calls was given by separatists. He didn’t want to vitiate the atmosphere on the first day of his government. People have their suspicions about Mufti and PDP and its relations with BJP,” she said.

When the PDP and the BJP started preparing ground for an alliance in Jammu and Kashmir last year, many analysts saw it as a ploy to merely grab power.

Two months down the line, Mufti’s remarks and the subsequent distancing from them by home minister Rajnath Singh in parliament on Monday, gives a glimpse of the long, bumpy road ahead for the alliance partners in the state.

Senior leadership in the two parties will see the alliance as a “historic opportunity” which, as Mufti Sayeed himself said, can become a “turning point” for Kashmir. But what remains to be seen, is how far will the two parties go in addressing the political dimensions of the Kashmir issue. This will mostly depend on factors which are beyond both sides control, given that these are times where the state has been left divided along communal lines. This is exactly where the strength of their character will be put to real test in coming days.