New Delhi- Solely the Congress, and specifically Rahul Gandhi, can perceive the ache and dilemma that Jammu and Kashmir has been plunged into, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti says in a brand new guide, including that she has by no means earlier than seen such “despair and despondency” within the erstwhile state.
In “Bharat Jodo Yatra: Reclaiming India’s Soul”, a group of essays releasing on Friday, Mufti argues that the trail to avoid wasting the “very thought of India” leads by Jammu and Kashmir, a “mini India” in itself — the one the place totally different religions have peacefully co-existed for hundreds of years.
The guide provides readers totally different accounts of the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra, the 4,000-kilometre nationwide march from September 2022 to January 2023.
Mufti, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, was all reward for Rahul Gandhi in her essay, “Bharat Jodo: Restoring Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat”, co-written together with her daughter Ilitija Mufti.
“Immediately all through the size and breadth of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, the folks really feel quick modified. If one turns the pages of historical past, it’s maybe solely the Congress, particularly RG (Rahul Gandhi), who can perceive the ache and dilemma that Jammu and Kashmir has been plunged into.
“I hope that if the Indian Nationwide Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) does certainly win 2024, it makes efforts to heal the gaping wounds of my folks,” she writes.
The Individuals’s Democratic Occasion (PDP) is a part of the opposition INDIA bloc together with the Congress. There is no such thing as a resolution but on seat sharing preparations between the alliance companions within the union territory.
“Being not solely a Kashmiri but additionally a mainstream chief who joined the tough and tumble of politics over three a long time in the past, I’ve by no means seen such despair and despondency in Jammu and Kashmir earlier than. Individuals are gripped by a crippling sense of insecurity about their id, land and jobs,” Mufti says.
“In such distressing circumstances, one can’t state sufficient the essential position the Congress can play in assuaging the struggling of the folks throughout the state. Let’s not overlook it was Jawaharlal Nehru’s relentless efforts on a private and political degree that ensured Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India,” she provides.
Giving a graphic account of the march and her dialog with Rahul Gandhi throughout the Yatra’s concluding Kashmir leg, Mufti says she was “amazed by the scope of his information”, a far cry from the “demeaning and willful picture of Pappu” that was thrust upon him.
“I’ve interacted with RG on earlier events, however this time I noticed a very totally different aspect… I discovered him to be nicely knowledgeable as we conversed about numerous points, each nationwide and worldwide. I puzzled how a lot cash and power should have gone into the BJP’s pet undertaking of wrongfully projecting him as an ignorant politician.
“We have been so deeply engrossed in our dialog that three hours of strolling 15 kilometres flew by straight away.”
The 64-year-old additionally recollects how her mom, who refused to go away their home for the reason that passing away of her father, former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, in 2016, marched with Gandhi in the midst of Chillai Kalan — the harshest winter in Kashmir — on January 28, 2023.
“The sight of a younger man vilified and berated, but being showered with such deep affection should have struck a chord someplace together with her (the mom)… Regardless of my reluctance, my mom dug in her heels.
“There was extra to return. My daughter Iltija waded into the dialog. ‘Ma, I additionally need to stroll with him.’ I used to be stumped. Uncommon are the events after I’m perplexed. I had little selection however to collapse,” says Mufti, admitting that Gandhi had managed to attraction all of the three generations effortlessly.
Former spymaster AS Dulat, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, CPI chief D Raja, Congress chief Salman Khurshid, activists Nikhil Dey and Medha Patkar are among the many different contributors of the guide printed by Harper Collins India. It’s edited by Pushparaj Deshpande and Ruchira Chaturvedi.
Gandhi not too long ago concluded his second mass outreach programme, the 63-day ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’. This time he travelled from the east of the nation to the west.
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