Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Thursday called for strengthening of democratic and civil institutions in the state.
“Democratisation will pave the way for the settlement of Kashmir issue through the globally accepted means,” said Mufti, former Union home minister.
Addressing party office bearers in Srinagar, Mufti alleged democratic space could no longer be squeezed for security concerns. “It was important that security concerns are addressed but not without providing a full democratic space to people, where they could run their civil institutions without someone having to breathe down their neck,” he said.
The former chief minister of the state said his party’s aim was to pave the way for resolution of the Kashmir issue through democratic methods.
“It was fundamental that the people of J&K enjoy complete liberties within democratic system as available to other parts of the country,” he said.
Mufti said rolling back the legislations like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) “was inescapable”. “We had taken up the revocation of the AFSPA with the prime minister; and to review the law a high level committee was constituted by the central government in 2007 on his initiative. But subsequent events resulted in logjam like most other initiatives that were taken by the PDP-Congress government,” he claimed.