Troop pullout demand worries PM, will find a way out: Mufti

Emerging from a 90-minute meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jammu and Kashmir’s former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said he expected “some honourable way to provide relief to people”

Emerging from a 90-minute meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jammu and Kashmir’s former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said he expected “some honourable way to provide relief to people” and end the political crisis over his party’s demand for withdrawal of troops from the Valley. The PDP had earlier threatened to end the J&K coalition if its demands were not met.

Stating that his meeting with the Prime Minister, held in a “very cordial atmosphere”, had been inconclusive, Sayeed said: “We are meeting again tomorrow. Hopefully, we will find a way out.” He had earlier met National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, the Centre’s Kashmir pointsman N N Vohra and discussed the PDP demand.

According to Sayeed, the Prime Minister’s main concern was that a step like troop-withdrawal would not just impact the overall security situation but also the morale of security forces. He said he explained the PDP thinking that it was time to trust people of the state and move ahead to strengthen democratic institutions on the ground.

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“After the democratic process began in the state in 1996, it slowly started providing dividends. And when we came to power after the 2002 elections, we gave some relief to common people, gave some freedom and this certainly helped restore normalcy,” recalled Sayeed on what he told the Prime Minister. “We believe that looking at Kashmir only through the security paradigm is not helpful. If we trust our own people and ease the situation, it will help.”

At the meeting, he recalled how his government did not allow the attack on the Raghunath temple in Jammu to change the larger policy, which ultimately helped.

After his talks tomorrow, Sayeed is expected to fly back to Srinagar on Saturday — the PDP political affairs committee is meeting on Sunday. PDP sources said that he will brief the party leadership on his talks with the PM before the party takes a final decision on the future of the coalition and its demands.

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