Headlines
Mehbooba Mufti defends Sayeed's remarks on Pakistan
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said she stood by the remarks made by
her father and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed
who gave credit to separatist leaders, militants and Pakistan for the
smooth conduct of the assembly election.
Reacting to the
criticism against her father's remarks made Sunday during a media
conference in winter capital Jammu immediately after taking over as the
chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti told reporters: "I stand by the remarks
made by Mufti Sahib. He is not a person who makes a remark and later
denies having made it."
"If the separatists have not gone from door to door telling people to boycott those elections, we should acknowledge that."
Sayeed
had ruffled many a feather especially among his Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) ruling ally by telling his first media conference that had
Pakistan, Hurriyat and the militants tried to disrupt elections in the
state last year, there would not have been good participation.
"If
God forbid the Hurriyat and the militants tried to disrupt the
elections these would not have been as participative as they had been,"
Sayeed had told the media here.
Referring to Pakistan, Sayeed had said, "They (Pakistan) also allowed these elections to take place."
The
chief minister's remarks were seen in poor light especially by the BJP,
since these remarks, according to Sayeed's critics, amount to depriving
the election commission and the security forces of the credit they
deserve for the smooth conduct of the poll process in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sayeed's
remarks also attracted criticism from former state chief minister, Omar
Abdullah and the leader of the Congress party in the Rajya Sabha,
Ghulam Nabi Azad who demanded an explanation from the central government
over these remarks.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh reacted to
Sayeed's statement in the Lok Sabha on Monday, asserting that the
credit for the smooth conduct of the election goes to the Election
Commission of India, the security forces and the people of the state.
Rajnath Singh said the BJP government and the party dissociate themselves from the remarks made by Sayeed.
Singh said he was making the statement after talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.