PDP leaders back Mehbooba's brother's attack on BJP

Two PDP leaders on Friday came out in support of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's brother Tassaduq Mufti after he launched an unprecedented attack on the PDP-BJP coalition his sister heads.

In an interview to the Indian Express newspaper, Tassaduq Mufti said: "The two parties (PDP and BJP) have ended up being partners in a crime for which an entire generation of Kashmiris might have to pay with their blood."

The Tourism Minister insisted that this was not only his personal view but the overwhelming sentiment in the Peoples Democratic Party.

On Friday, senior PDP leader and Roads and Buildings Minister Naeem Akhtar said: "This is an expression of pain and anguish. When the PDP aligned with the BJP, it was a historic decision to change the destiny of the state.

"So far, nothing has happened for which we can feel proud. Tassaduq Mufti' s interview has to be read in that context."

Added another PDP leader, Nizamuddin Bhat: "I fully endorse the views expressed by Tassaduq Mufti."

The Chief Minister's brother has asked the Modi government to "give up its obduracy and recognize the problem at hand, de-escalate tension, resume the political process" and implement the commitments made in the agenda of alliance".

If this was not done, he said, the PDP would have to "take one last bow and apologize to the people for having unknowingly pushed them into something they did not deserve".

The Tourism Minister also said that speaking of tourism and development in the state was futile unless peace returned to Jammu and Kashmir.

--IANS

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