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12 June 26 to July 2 : Weekly News Magazine messenger

INTERVIEW

a huge mandate, we should be able to come out of this turmoil. My father father’s death, you completely abandoned your stated political agenda
never believed in undermining the sovereignty of India and then finding a and posturing.
solution to the Kashmir problem. That is not possible. He was a mainstream MM: We did it for something very huge. Being in power wasn’t important for
politician. He believed in Indian nation. He was sure that this country has my father. We would have been very comfortable with the Congress; they
the potential, it has the vision and accommodation to take care of the were ready. I would like to be sold hundred and ten times — my party and me
aspirations of our people to the maximum.?PM Modi is very ambitious — if we are able to end the miseries of Kashmiris and find some kind of
about India and I think Kashmir is a hurdle for the country internationally. honourable solution to the Kashmir problem and live a life of honour and
We are also bleeding internally because of the Kashmir issue. This is dignity and prosperity, if we could become a bridge of friendship between
exactly why he would want this issue to be resolved once and for all. And I the two sides (India and Pakistan) because we get most affected because
am sure PM Modi will go to any extent.??He had started that journey by of their animosity.?The kind of respect they (the BJP leadership) give to
going to Lahore. me, even to our ministers and MLAs, is beyond anybody’s expectations,
especially the way they meet us, talk to us. During these five months they
Q. What do you see as a solution to the Kashmir issue?? haven’t raised a finger without talking to me. There is no interference. If
MM: (The solution is) to make the borders irrelevant. They are talking there is any such perception, it is wrong.
about a dozen routes to be opened. It is not only to connect with PoK. They
are talking about the Kargil-Askardu road so that we can reach Central Q. What do you think about the BJP’s politics on issues like beef, cow
Asia. They are talking about the Leh-Xiangyang road. If China is building vigilantism and the general sense of unease among minorities caused by
an economic corridor on the other side of Kashmir, we are also centrally its hyper nationalism??
located and our country can use this door to reach out to other countries MM: This is why my father had said that it is the coming together of North
through J&K. We are so strategically placed. This is again endorsed by Pole and South Pole. For my father, the urge to resolve this problem of our
working group reports. This is part of our agenda. state consumed him so that he was ready to go to any extent.?For me, PM
Modi going to Lahore is much more important than anything else. A group of
parliamentarians coming during this unrest when there was so much
Q. You want a parallel to China’s economic corridor?? provocation from the other side is important. We have an understanding on
MM: I’m saying why can’t they (New Delhi) think of J&K. Why can’t we get the Agenda of Alliance and that’s what concerns us. In 2010, curfew was
connected? Why can’t our country connect us? Why can’t they think about announced from Delhi. Today everything is discussed and I may say yes, I
all these routes endorsed by working group reports and work on them? may say no.
Because today Syria is an independent country, but look what is happening Q. Do you think you are as powerful a CM as Mamata Banerjee or any other
there… So independence has changed its meaning. It is more about CM??
globalisation, more about economy, how much you can go around. It is MM: I would say that. Because of the situation that I witnessed, I am much
about free borders. more powerful, despite the fact that we are in a coalition government,
which comes with its own constraints. I think power doesn’t come from
Q. Your critics say the PDP alliance with the BJP is a sellout for power? Delhi; it is about how confident you are.
They say that when you agreed to take over as CM three months after your