Half-hearted effort: Mehbooba on J&K resolution for restoration of special status

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said the resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for the restoration of special status to the erstwhile state was a “half-hearted” effort, which could have been written “in a better way”.

“We believe the language of this resolution could have been better. There is no condemnation of the abrogation of Article 370 in this resolution. They (NC) talk about holding dialogue for the restoration of the special status. What is the dialogue for? Do they have any doubt that what happened on August 5, 2019, was wrong? I would say it was a half-hearted effort,” Mehbooba said.

The J&K Assembly passed a resolution moved by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary that sought a dialogue between the Centre and elected representatives for the restoration of the special status.

The PDP president said it was “sad” that the resolution did not term the abrogation as illegal. “There is a need to correct the language of the resolution. The PDP will do it,” she added.

The former Chief Minister said the PDP's move to bring the resolution on restoration of special status on the first day of the session had forced the ruling National Conference to bring its resolution today. “They have brought this resolution because the PDP brought a resolution earlier,” she said.

Asked if the PDP was seeking credit for the passage of the resolution, the former Chief Minister said it was not about “credit or debit”.

“We promised people that if you elect us, we will do it. We fulfilled that promise and may be the NC have done it under pressure,” she said.