Srinagar: To mark a protest against the recent statement by former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti on tricolour, three senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders on Monday resigned from the basic membership of the party.
The senior leaders who resigned from the basic membership of the party include former Member of Parliament T.S. Bajwa, former Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Ved Mahajan and former State Secretary Hussain A Wafa.
The trio resigned as a mark of protest against the recent statement made by the party chief and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
While addressing the first news conference days after her release, Mehbooba had told the media persons that she will not hoist the tricolour till erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir’s flag and the constitution is restored.
In a letter to the party chief, the trio expressed displeasure over her statement and said: “they are feeling quite uncomfortable over some of your actions and undesirable utterances especially which hurt the patriotic sentiments.”
“Former Chief Minister Late Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had twin broader objectives behind the formation of PDP. First, to create a viable political alternative in JK to represent the regional aspirations of the people especially in the wake of vacuum in the shape of any mainstream alternative political voice in Kashmir valley,” reads the resignation letter.
“Despite several undesirable developments and steps, we stood like a rock with the party and the leadership in spite of serious reservations on the handling and response to the challenges of the situation in front of the party. Instead of overcoming the challenges from within and outside by a process of broader consultations and trust, some elements within the party started pulling the party and leadership in a particular direction, thus deviating from the basic principles, agenda and philosophy, making it further difficult to face the saner voices in the society, the letter reads.
It added that some of the actions and utterances are unpardonable and unforgettable by the people, for the party to emerge out and move in the direction of fundamental approach, and identity besides regaining its image as a political alternative to the people.
“In view of this, we feel uncomfortable and suffocated in the party, forcing us to take a difficult decision of leaving the party,” the letter further added.
Pertinently, the Jammu and Kashmir unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also criticised Mehbooba Mufti and urged the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to take action against her and put her behind the bars over her “seditious remark”.
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