J&K Tourism Minister Tassaduq Mufti has said that the two parties – PDP and BJP – have “ended up being partners in a crime (for which) an entire generation of Kashmiris might have to pay with their blood”.

“The brutal murder-rape of a tribal child and the subsequent communal politics over it has pushed the state to a new low and brought shame to all of us…If coalition politics is about living with a series of failures and ignominies, then I am sorry I don’t know how to hide my awkwardness and discomfort with it,” Mufti was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

“Today the threat is that while we are in control, we are no longer trusted. We were supposed to be partners in rebuilding of this place but, sad to admit this, due to the non-fulfilling of commitments, we have ended up being partners in a crime that an entire generation of Kashmiris might have to pay with their blood,” he said.

Mufti, who is also son of the late PDP patron and former CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and brother of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, made it clear that this is not his personal view but the overwhelming sentiment within the PDP, the report said.

He urged the Centre to “give up its obduracy and recognise the problem at hand, de-escalate tension, resume the political process” and implement the commitments made in the agenda of alliance. Failing which, he said, the PDP has to “take one last bow and apologise to people for having unknowingly pushed them into something they did not deserve”.

“No war can be won against the people and this is something we must not lose sight of. The government can’t wait to see who blinks first. Immediate political reach out is needed,’’ he said.

“The onus is on the Centre to find ways and means to engage people. Talking to Pakistan is important and political hawkishness might appear to give us temporary gains but in the long term it can damage us severely.”

Three years on, he said, “We find ourselves today at the crossroads of despair and abandonment.’’

Mufti also said that escalation in violence and the day to day loss of lives has brought Kashmir to the brink of a disaster.

“If there is an irritant that is provoking youngsters to take up to violence, that irritant must go immediately. We can’t burn all bridges and expect that masses can be made to yield by sheer might of the state. It doesn’t work that way. The alienation has reached to a level now where it can lead to bloodshed of a scale that doesn’t find a precedent in history”.