I stand by statement on violence-free J-K polls: Mufti

Says people are trying to make mountain of a mole hill and are ignoring the positive things

A day after his remarks on peaceful polls in Jammu and Kashmir triggered a row, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed today said that he stood by his comments and accused those raising a hue and cry over it of trying to "make mountain of a mole hill".

"What I said, I stand by it," he told reporters after casting his vote for the Council election at the Legislature Complex here.

"What I said yesterday about Pakistan and Hurriyat... The recovery and working of democracy in Kashmir and faith in it (was that) they (Pakistan and Hurriyat) have recognised and understood that the voter slip is the destiny of the people, not bullets or grenades," he said.

"And this voter slip has been given to us by the Constitution of India... The people of J-K have more faith in this (right). They (people from across the border and Hurriyat) did not interfere, as was happening in past (elections)," he said.

Soon after taking oath yesterday, Sayeed had said that credit must be given to people from across the border -- an oblique reference to Pakistan -- Hurriyat and militant outfits for "allowing a conducive atmosphere" for the Assembly polls in December last year in J-K.

Under attack for the remarks, Mufti today said that only a part of what he had said yesterday was highlighted while the "positive things" were ignored.

"They want to make mountain out of a mole hill. The positive things that I spoke about yesterday were not highlighted, but more focus was on what Mufti said.

"Mufti said that the democratic right that Kashmir has got in the Constitution of India and the strength that democratic institutions have got, it is because of the voter slip, that they have recognised," he explained.

"Everything they have tried. They (forces across the border) recognised the institution of democracy. What I said, I stand by it," he said.