Headlines
PDP-BJP alliance: Mufti Sayeed faces a balancing act
By
Sheikh Qayoom Jammu, March
Jammu and Kashmir Chief
Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed will need more than over 50 years of
experience as a mature politician to keep the ruling PDP-BJP alliance on
an even keel as controversies rattle the coalition even before it
starts delivering on promises of peace and development.
The very
first media conference Mufti Sayeed addressed after taking over as the
chief minister last Sunday in winter capital Jammu rocked Parliament
over his remarks that gave credit to Pakistan, the separatist Hurriyat
and militants for the smooth conduct of the state assembly elections.
Union
Home Minister Rajnath Singh had to make a statement in the Lok Sabha
contradicting Sayeed's statement. Rajnath Singh said the credit for the
successful and fair conduct of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections
went to the country's Election Commission, the army, the paramilitary
forces and, above all, the people of the state.
Sayeed's
daughter and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti
defended her father's statement saying Sayeed was not like his arch
rival, National Conference patron, Farooq Abdullah, who Mehbooba said
had specialised in the art of self-denial.
Sayeed has followed up his statement on separatists and militants by ordering the release of political prisoners.
State police chief K. Rajendra Kumar has confirmed that the release will begin soon.
The
problem for Sayeed and his party is that not all those he calls
'political prisoners' are considered to be so by his ruling alliance
partners in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), at both the state and
central levels.
Sayeed is obviously trying to keep his
Valley-centric political constituency intact by ordering the release of
political prisoners and also trying to prove that an alliance with the
BJP could be far more Valley friendly than his adversaries want the
people to believe.
But the problem for Sayeed is that in this case what is sauce for the goose might not be sauce for the gander.
The
BJP dismisses the PDP idea that some of the top separatist leaders like
Masrat Alam and Mushtaq-ul-Islam are political prisoners.
Masrat
Alam, the chief of a militant outfit, was arrested during the 2010
unrest in the Valley. Both state and central intelligence agencies slam
him for inciting thousands of youths to violence during 2010.
As
many as 112 youth were killed during the 2010 unrest when unruly mobs
torched public property, vandalised government offices and brought life
to a grinding halt for nearly six months.
"These people are not
political prisoners. They have committed crimes against the state and
need to be dealt with in accordance with the law of the land. We will
not allow their release at any cost," a top BJP leader told IANS here.
The
problem for Sayeed is that his party's political interests are at
conflict with those of his alliance partners in the BJP, despite the two
having taken over two months to work out a common minimum programme
(CMP).
"Development and peace are our CMP, but that cannot happen
by compromising the sovereignty and integrity of the country," said
another top BJP leader in New Delhi.
With aberrations like these,
Sayeed definitely needs much more than five decades of political
experience to run the coalition government smoothly in the state.
Stitching
an alliance with the BJP had been a tough call for Sayeed, but keeping
it intact while delivering on peace and development promises would be a
feat the 79-year old, wily Kashmiri politician might not find easy.
(Sheikh Qayoom can be contacted at [email protected])