SRINAGAR — Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said that reconciliation and dialogue with Pakistan and the settlement of Kashmir issue in the preview of Article 370 is the need of the hour.
Talking to media persons in Srinagar after PDP workers took out a protest procession in Srinagar on Wednesday against land eviction law, Mehbooba said that “we and the like minded parties believe in talks between India and Pakistan and solution to the Kashmir problem in around the special status of article 370 that too has been scrapped by the BJP that has made the issue more complicated”.
She said “I am happy at least the Prime Minister of Pakistan is talking about the reconciliation and dialogue with India, instead the government of India run by BJP is negating it”.
The former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir said that it was the path of late Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji that dialogue and reconciliation between the two neighboring countries should take place to live together and peacefully and simultaneously he (Vajpayee ji) was also talking about the settlement of Kashmir issue.
“This is a good sign that our neighbouring countrY understands the need for dialogue in spite of the fact that BJP are negating it”, Mehbooba said in reply to a question.
She said that the dialogue and the reconciliation to settle the Kashmir issue has to be with the restoration of Article 370 whatever has been taken away from the state in 2019.
“We believe and the people of Jammu and Kashmir believe that the hand with the Union of India extended during the accession was on some basis and believing in secularism”, she said and added “we here in Kashmir also fought a long battle against the then Maharaja for restoration of democratic rights to the people”.
“PDP believes that the settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir issue should be in the preview of the constitution of the country which has given us the special status of Article 370” she added.
The PDP President said that the relationship of India and Pakistan should be restored on a smooth and good note and all roads should be open and the trade restored besides people from both the countries could travel to each other’s nations.
“PDP believes in what late Prime Minister Vajpayee Ji was saying reconciliation and dialogue between the two countries,” she added. — (UNI)