Tariq Karra has resigned from PDP and parliament
Highlights
- Tariq Karra has quit both from the party and Parliament
- He has accused PDP of "bartering its ideology for staying in power"
- PDP has become a "facilitator" for "designs" of the RSS, he said
Senior leader of Jammu and Kashmir's People's Democratic Party Tariq Karra has quit both from the party and Parliament, accusing the PDP of "bartering its ideology for staying in power".
Terming the state government's handling of the current unrest as "genocide" in which hundreds have been blinded and maimed, he said it has "exposed the tall claims of the Government of India and the state government regarding their democratic character".
The PDP, he said, has become a "facilitator" for "designs" of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological mentor of the ruling ally BJP, said Mr Karra, who had been a founding member of the People's Democratic Party and a close aide of former chief minister Mufti Mohamad Sayeed. He had always been opposed the idea of a PDP-BJP alliance and made his dissent known.
"The seeds of deceit, discontent and betrayal got sown in the hearts of the people the day the PDP got into an alliance with the BJP," he said.
The lawmaker, who had defeated National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, had also been critical earlier of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's handling of the ongoing unrest in the Valley.
"Locking sufi shrines and mosques on Eid was a defining moment for me," he said today. On Eid, Sufi shrines and mosques were locked by the government and traditional congregational prayers had not been allowed.
Appealing to all other legislators to resign, he said, "I leave it to their conscience to decide whether they would like to side with helpless people or let the bloodshed be perpetuated by the RSS-backed BJP and facilitated by PDP".
Reacting to Mr Karra's resignation, PDP General Secretary Nizamuddin Bhat said, " It is unfortunate that he has resigned. He should have discussed the crisis with the party".
The resignation comes as the Kashmir valley is battling the worst unrest it has seen in six years, in which more than 80 people have been killed and 8000 have been injured. It is also seen as bringing out the fissures that have existed in the party for a while.
Last week, senior PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig had said Ms Mufti should step down as the Chief Minister if an agenda of alliance agreed upon with ally BJP is not implemented in the state.