Mufti slams Omar govt

Main opposition Peoples Democratic Party today alleged the Omar Abdullah-led government in Jammu and Kashmir was holding the legislative assembly hostage to its partisan interests.
"The assembly has been turned into a mock house with the government, instead of getting worried by the opposition boycott, feeling relieved at what it sees as a good riddance," PDP supremo Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said.
It would push people away from democratic system which had gained some respectability as a result of the rise of a strong opposition, he said.
On his party's decision to stay away from proceedings of the legislature for the rest of the current session, Sayeed said "the House has been prevented from taking any meaningful discussion that could have helped in finding a way to respond to people's concerns."

"We do not want to be part of a process of demolition of the democratic institutions for the revival of which we have contributed substantially in the past years," he said.
"The assembly is the ultimate authority in a democratic system and it shall be free to discuss all issues concerning the people," the PDP patron said.
"The government is unable to think beyond curfew, guns and large-scale arrests as the only options and is closing the doors of a democratic engagement," he said.
"We have a government that is isolated from the people and has lost its political character and moral authority to govern," the PDP veteran said.