Opinion Mehbooba Mufti in opposition and in power — two different people
The current crisis in the Valley has exposed the dichotomy between Mehbooba Mufti as a leader of the opposition and as a chief minister.
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti addresses Legislative council in Srinagar on Tuesday. PTI Photo by S Irfan (PTI5_31_2016_000144B) 
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In 2016, Mufti seems as disconnected from people as was Omar Abdullah in 2010. (File photo)
“I think Omar Abdullah’s biggest problem in governing Kashmir is that he is unable to connect with the Kashmiris”. As a leader of opposition Mehbooba Mufti said this in 2010, when Kashmir was on the streets and more than 120 people were killed. Omar Abdullah was then the Chief Minister.
Now, it has come full circle. Six years later as Kashmir is again out on the streets and the state is using violence to stop the protests triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani, the disconnect continues.
It has been 10 days since the people took to streets, more than 40 people have been killed and 2000 injured – over a hundred have been hit by the pellets in their eyes and may lose vision in their one or both eyes – the government is turning a blind eye to the crisis. Not just Mehbooba Mufti but none of her cabinet colleagues have tried to reach out to the injured people in hospitals – a “crime” she accused Omar of committing when he was in power six years ago.
The current crisis in the Valley has exposed the dichotomy between Mehbooba Mufti as a leader of the opposition and Mehbooba Mufti as a chief minister. When in opposition, her concern for human rights, her soft corner for the separatists and her fiery speeches talking about “battle of ideas” and ‘Goli nahin, Boli say (Bullet not, dialogue) won her many admirers in Kashmir. But two months in power, that image has been completely tarnished.
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In 2016, Mufti seems as disconnected from people as was Omar Abdullah in 2010. She has not reached out to the injured in hospital, she has not reached out to the youth protesting on streets or to the people of valley – except by issuing a statement calling for calm.
In these six years nothing has changed on the ground. The pellets continue to be used not withstanding Mufti’s fiery speech against their use and had staged a walkout from the assembly when she was leader of opposition – the police continues to raid the hospitals and the gag on media remains in place.
The street protests after the killing of Burhan Wani was the first major test for Mehbooba Mufti as a chief minister. When Omar was going through a similar test, Mufti once said: “When you don’t know what’s happening at the grassroots, then you start tackling issues like a Delhi-ite”. It is true for Mehbooba Mufti as well.
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