Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday urged the people of her state to respect the Constitution.
“If we don’t believe in the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, if we don’t believe in the country’s Constitution, then what do we believe in?” Mufti said during her address in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. “Then what are you going to get? Where will you get anything from?”
She further said that she wants to “put it on record that people of the state will only gain something from India and not from anywhere else”.
Mufti said the state’s development could be hindered if it did not show faith in the Indian constitution. “Ours is the most empowered Assembly in the country. The Goods and Services Tax was implemented in the entire nation at once, except Jammu and Kashmir, where it was implemented only after a proper debate in this Assembly”, she added.
The Jammu and Kashmir chief minister backed the Centre’s efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue, and appreciated the work undertaken by interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma. However, she criticised the separatists for not initiating talks with him.
“Modi has the mandate to solve the Kashmir issue,” said Mufti. “A representative has been installed and given the powers of a cabinet secretary. A team had knocked on the doors, they were not weak but they wanted to resolve the issue. They asked them to open the door but it was not opened. They were not ready to talk,” she added.
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