Mehbooba warns of agitation over governor’s decisions

Asking Governor Satya Pal Malik not to meddle with the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday warned of an agitation.

"The speed at which the Governor is taking decisions, it seems there is a hidden hand behind with a definite agenda," she said while addressing a hurriedly called press conference at her posh Gupkar residence, in Srinagar.

"What is the urgency to issue orders on a daily basis? If the trend doesn't stop, we will be forced to launch a peaceful agitation," she said on the reported proposal of the governor to give Ladakh area the status of a division.

"There are hill development councils in both Kargil and Ladakh. All of us— the PDP, the National Conference and other independents— believe that both Pir Panjal and Chenab valley should be granted the status of a division, if you think of Ladakh," she said.

The PDP chief claimed that the governor-led administration was taking decisions which are against the interests of the state.

"Unfortunately, every day orders which add to insecurities of the people are being issued, all except a few political parties are worried," she said while talking about the recent orders and controversies over turning Jammu and Kashmir Bank into a PSU and fiddling with the Permanent residence certificate (PRC) rules.

"Why is he (Governor) encroaching into a democratic space? There is no emergency in issuing such orders. It seems somebody's agenda is being run here and I hope Governor sahib is not involved in this," Mehbooba said.

To a question of senior leaders quitting the PDP, more recently former finance minister Haseeb Drabu on Thursday, she said that she feels sad that Drabu has quit the party, recalling how much hopes her father (the late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed) had from Drabu when he joined the party.