National Highway

[An edited, shorter version of this interview appeared in Sakaal Times on 7 July.]

Even as the PDP tries to occupy the moral high-ground in the aftermath of a successful azadi-inclined agitation against the transfer of land to the Shrine Board, its President Mehbooba Mufti admits in an interview with Shivam Vij that the party has suffered a jolt.

Do you accept that the PDP has suffered a political jolt in the current controversy?
In politics you have to be prepared for ups and downs. This has definitely been a jolt. People had high expectations from us and we did achieve in restoring the credibility of mainstream parties. People had started looking at mainstream parties as not being untouchable anymore. Ghulam Nabi Azad’s parting gift to the outgoing Governor has affected that.

You blame Azad but the PDP forest minister and Deputy CM were responsible for the passage of the order.
But the Chief Minister is the head of the government. Certain policies were dear to Governor Sinha and he had the habit of getting his way through. He is now accusing my father [former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed] of being separatist and communal. He forgets that it was my father who had made land available to the Vaishnu Devi shrine board.

But the Congress says that the file was thrice approved by Baig which is Deputy CM as well as law minister.
That was only about whether the Supreme Court order on transfer of forest land applies to the state. But yes our ministers did make mistakes by being persuaded. Ghulam Nabi Azad was very close to the Governor and it seemed that he had to do him a favour. He has today even admitted that he would send reports about the PDP to New Delhi.

But ultimately a cabinet has collective responsibility…
Yes, and that’s why we have punished ourselves. Haven’t we, by sacrificing from the cabinet. It was only after we withdrew, and because of the resulting political pressure, that the order was revoked. Yes, people are angry with us, but you can be angry only with someone who is your own and there can always be a meeting ground.

You have called the Governor communal.
Just go to the Raj Bhavan and see how he has turned it into a temple with gods and goddesses all over the place. And tell me, in Tirupati or other such places, which state government has transferred hundreds of acres of forest land to temple boards?

Whose brainchild was the shrine board?
The law to establish the shrine board was enacted when the National Conference in Srinagar was a partner of the BJP in Delhi. The two parties were obviously in partnership and this was part of their give and take. Governor Sinha was sent here when my father was the chief minister so that he could take this kind of agenda forward and my father resisted a lot.

So your father and Governor Sinha didn’t have good relations.
Oh the relations were very bad. As soon as Governor Sinha arrived he started holding district level meetings and was very aggressive about the shrine board. He started asking officials to brief him directly and bring him files. He’s not supposed to do that.

Do you think the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board should be dissolved?
I think its purpose should be confined to rituals. And there should be a CBI enquiry into its finances as also those of the vaishnu Devi Shrine Board. I have heard many allegations that the Governor had turned the two boards into money making machine and they don’t even publish accounts. There were protests in Katra two years ago. They are charging huge fees from punywalas and labourers. We want to know if somebody got commissions from langars and chopper companies. People here want to know if Governor Sinha went back a rich man.

The NC is being said to be the one which is going to benefit, but more than the BJP in Jammu and even nationally.
The BJP thrives on communalism and that is what they are doing. But as far as the NC is concerned I am sure people will look at our performance between 2002 and 2005.

It is being said that the popularity of the agitation will affect voters’ participation in the assembly polls in November.
We are apprehensive that the boycott call may work to some degree in towns and cities. These events have been the biggest setback to the democratic process the PDP had started. The turnout in municipal elections was as high as 90% in some places and even in by-elections we saw 70% voting. When my father took over in 2002 he purused the ‘healing touch’ policy that was gaining success but Ghulam Nabi Azad undid all that. What we saw on the streets for nine days against the transfer of land to the shrine board, was giving vent to pent-up anger about many other things.

What were the achievements of three years of PDP rule?
When we took over there was a sense of great insecurity on the streets. The issue wasn’t jobs or development but whether one would be back home at the end of the day. We also tried to move Delhi towards reconciliation between India and Pakistan so that the Kashmir issue could be solved. Our healing touch policy was showing success and the space for violence started shrinking. We also made sure we were fair to Ladakh and Jammu regions, you can ask the people there.

But demilitarization didn’t happen, and isn’t security in the hands of Delhi anyway?
Well we did persuade Delhi to withdraw troops from schools and administrative buildings. Can you imagine a BJP prime minister (Atal Bihari Vajpayee), despite having an alliance partnership with the National Conference, praised us? Can you imagine he was able to address a crowd of thousands in Srinagar without worrying about security? People came to listen to Sonia Gandhi despite an encounter going on in the city. That is what we changed. In November 2004 the prime Minister announced that Delhi found a sea change  and was considering withdrawal of troops. But when Azad took over he started opposing withdrawal. Our tenure saw the opening of the Muzaffarabad road [for a bus service]. He did not pursue anything in the direction we had given. We had given Kashmiris the feeling that they were moving forward politically. We managed to bridge the gap between Kashmiris and New Delhi.

So what according to you were Azad’s achievements?
Well he harps on development and reducing corruption but if you talk to common people they will tell you we did more on that front.

The Jammu & Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society has documented that during the PDP years there were 127 custodial killings and 173 disappearances, whereas during the Congress tenure there were 56 custodial killings and 104 disappearances. This could no doubt be because of decline in militancy but it still shows the PDP in a bad light.
I personally went to the house of each and every family whose members had disappeared or killed in custody or a fake encounter, so I know that these figures are not right. We were able to impress upon Delhi that fake encounters were happening for money and promotions.

The azadi sentiment remains strong and has only received a fillip with the anti-land transfer agitation. As a Kashmiri, as an observer, and not as a PDP leader, what do you think is the way forward?
We can find a way out, we had started bridinging gap between Kashmiris and Delhi…

But a substantial number of people want azadi, they don’t want to bridge the gap with Delhi.
The Prime Minister and General Musharaff had declared that boundaries can’t be changed. So we suggested the setting up of a regional council. Representatives from both Kashmirs could be me members. This could also function as the joint mechanism between India and Pakistan. So we have given a roadmap.

But Delhi seems to be happy with the decline of militancy and seems to be suggesting the problem is over.
Unfortunately my father is now being projected as a separatist, but he had warned Delhi: don’t take this normalcy for granted. But Ghulam Nabi Azad changed the tune to say that these azadi slogans were hollow, self-rule was meaningless. He thought his hollow slogan of development could answer everything.

So what should be done now?
The alienation of people can be addressed be pro-people policies to some extrent. But you also need a roadmap to solve the Kashmir problem. This has to take into account three things. Firstly, regional balance between Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Secondly, the gap between Delhi and Kashmir. And thirdly, the Pakistan factor. All three of these things are equally important.