Alienation in Kashmir touches unprecedented level, Omar prefers silence: Mehbooba Mufti

Former J&K Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday (January 7, 2026) said alienation in Kashmir has reached to an unprecedented level and reiterated the need to follow party founder Mufti Muhammad Sayeed’s “policy of outreach, reconciliation, and dignity”.

Speaking on the 10th death anniversary of Sayeed, also former Union Home minister, Ms. Mufti said, “Unemployment rate and alienation in J&K has reached a level that a doctor from Pulwama killed himself and some innocents at Red Fort in New Delhi.”

She recalled the approach and policy adopted by Sayeed to address the Kashmir problem with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “Mufti sahib believed in the politics of outreach, reconciliation, and dignity. Had Mufti Sahib been alive today, J&K would not be passing through this difficult phase,” Ms. Mufti said.

Ms. Mufti said the region’s present difficulties stem “from the failure to follow his vision”. “Mufti sahib never chased the chair but people,” she added.

She accused the current dispensation in J&K under Omar Abdullh of failing to address the burning issues of people. “In the name of development, orchards and trees are being cut. Farmers are left in a state of distress. It does not worry the Chief Minister. He is not serious about it. From morning till evening, he only targets the PDP,” Ms. Mufti said.

She sought the government’s intervention to “ensure jobs to those families affected by land acquisition”. “Land here is not just property; it is a livelihood, identity and a survival for poor families,” she added.

She said in spite of absolute majority in the J&K Assembly and Members of Parliament in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, “Mr. Abdullah prefers silence”.