Kashmir doesn't need Modi's sermons, says Sayeed

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed Saturday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to give sermons to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and said his party leaders do not require a certificate of integrity from him.

Addressing election rallies of his party in Noorabad and Kupwara assembly constituencies in the Kashmir Valley, Sayeed asked Modi to stop his vilification campaign.

"Modi is staking the prestige of the high office he occupies by indulging in defamatory rhetoric for electoral gains. Unfortunately, he is doing so without regard to facts or the perception among the people of the state.

"It is very alarming that the prime minister of a large country like ours should be so much ill-informed about the ground realities of a sensitive state like Jammu and Kashmir, and just for adding few seats in the assembly he is sacrificing facts and promote a culture of character assassination," Sayeed alleged.

He said Jammu and Kashmir has a different experience of prime ministerial visits which have generally focused on larger picture of the region and how peace, stability and development could be ushered in.

"(Then prime minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee redefined the future course by his visit to Kashmir and his cooperation with the PDP-led government but it is unfortunate that Modi inspite of swearing by the Vajpayee policy has so far observed it only in breach.

"The prime minister has to be a unifying force and not the one who is seen as a source of division and confrontation. The issue of Jammu and Kashmir and the problems faced by its residents exist in many layers and it is only through a multidimensional inclusive approach that these can be resolved, said Sayeed.

"That is why I have spent an entire lifetime in trying to give this state a pluralistic platform that takes on board the aspirations of every region and community of this diverse state and I would do every bit to defend the interests of the state with the help of our people," he said.

The PDP, Sayeed claimed said, set new standards of development in a conflict zone which was ravaged by violence for more than a decade and established accountability and probity in public life, which many other states including the central government are still struggling to do.

He said while political parties tend to go above board in their attack on opponents, the prime minister is carried away on the basis of hearsay and wrong inputs which doesn't hold well for the country of immense diversity and dimensions like India.