Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday hit out at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for maintaining “silence” on issues concerning the people of the Union territory.
In her brief speech while speaking at the tenth death anniversary of her father and PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Mehbooba said the chief minister is obsessed with her party and remains busy in only criticising it.
“Today, if a youth raises his voice, he is arrested. Thousands are languishing in jails. I went to court, but was told who was I to talk about them. If we do not talk, then who will? They are poor and cannot afford to travel there. Where will they go? “It was Omar’s (Abdullah) job and not mine, but I do not know what world does Omar with his 50 MLAs, many MPs live that he does not talk about these issues? He only criticises PDP, he is obsessed with the PDP,” she said.
On the issue of orchard lands being taken for railway lines in south Kashmir, she said the chief minister does not understand the importance of orchards for the poor families.
She called upon the Centre to provide jobs to the youth of the families whose lands were being taken.
Describing the PDP as her father’s legacy, she called upon her party workers to protect it.
“The party is Mufti’s (Sayeed) legacy. What will I do alone? It is for you to keep it alive. Whenever you get an opportunity, please pray for him,” the PDP president said, as she broke down in tears.
Mehbooba, the former chief minister of the erstwhile state of J-K, said no other politician in J-K has the “farsightedness” that Sayeed had.
“I gave my youth and life on his path as I knew the farsightedness that my father had, no other leader had that. Had it been, we would not have been in this storm,” she said.
She asserted that while others sought chair, her father looked for the people.
“When I joined politics, I reached every corner just for the sake of the people. People did not understand that he did not seek the chair, he had set out for the nation, for the people,” she added.