Baig says PDP changed situation after 1999 Kargil conflict

Srinagar, July 31 (UNI) The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a key coalition partner in Jammu and Kashmir, today took credit for changing the entire situation after the 1999 Kargil conflict when India and Pakistan were at the brink of nuclear war.

''The Kargil war was on and the two countries were at loggerheads with each other. They were even at the brink of a nuclear war. But, the PDP changed the entire situation, after it was formed in 1999,'' former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig told a gathering at the raising day celebrations of the party in Baramulla.

He said the PDP had bridged the gap between the then hostile countries India and Pakistan.

The senior PDP leader lashed out at the National Conference (NC), saying the then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had advocated dropping of an atomic bomb on Pakistan.

''During the Kargil conflict, Dr Abdullah as the Chief Minister had advocated dropping of the atomic bomb on Pakistan if India wanted an everlasting solution to the Kashmir issue,'' he added.

Mr Baig said Dr Abdullah had even directed the then Director General of Police to shoot at sight any suspected person, as there was no space for them in jails. The PDP after taking over the reigns of the state changed the animosity between the two countries into an ever-growing amity, he added.

The former Deputy Chief Minister said the PDP formulated a programme, which would encourage harmony between India and Pakistan.

''After all, how long these countries can afford to invest thousands of crores on defence budget when around 14 crore people in India are without permanent shelters. Pakistan shares the same ground reality,'' he added.

Mr Baig claimed that what the successive governments in Jammu and Kashmir could not do in the past 50 years, the PDP did it in just three years of power.

UNI