Mehbooba Govt reduced to a subsidiary municipality – NC

Srinagar | Tuesday, 21 November 2017: While welcoming the orders passed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs instructing the Mehbooba Mufti Government to shift juvenile detainees from various jails to remand homes and to consider amnesty for first-time offenders involved in incidents of stone-pelting in 2016, National Conference on Tuesdayasked Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to explain why her Government could not take these measures, that fall under the State’s law and order jurisdiction, on its own initiative till now.

“We welcome both these initiatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs and hope the State Government will finally be embarrassed into action it should have initiated long back under the powers of law and order that come under the State’s jurisdiction and purview. It has now become evident beyond any doubt that the Mehbooba Mufti Government has been reduced to a subsidiary municipality as all policy and decision-making powers have been surrendered to the Central Government. These are initiatives that Mehbooba Mufti could have and certainly should have announced on her own and not under pressure from the Central Government. Had she taken these steps on her own in a timely manner, the situation in the Valley might not have continued to deteriorate”, NC State Spokesperson Junaid Mattu said in a statement issued from NC Head Office, ‘Nawa-e-Subha’ on Tuesday.

The NC State Spokesperson said it was tragic that the Central Government had to remind Mehbooba Mufti of her duties to her own people and also the need to treat juveniles with fairness and tenderness. “Why couldn’t our Chief Minister initiate these crucial steps and ensure fair and just treatment to juveniles under provisions of Juvenile Justice? It seems the Central Government has divested Mehbooba Mufti of all law and order decision making powers and is micro-managing every aspect of policy from New Delhi. It is also clear now that Mehbooba Mufti’s rhetoric about reconciliation and rehabilitation is in stark contrast to her indifference towards the youth of the Valley”, Mattu added in the statement.

“We hope the State Government’s conscience is jolted by this intervention by the Central Government and the Chief Minister acts to save the situation in the State from deteriorating any further towards indifference and isolation. It is her duty to act in the best interests of the State and its people and she shouldn’t require reminders and orders from the Central Government to take such necessary initiatives in a timely manner”, the NC State Spokesperson further said.