National Conference spokesman Mattu has said that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's comments about Syed Salahuddin were ironic given that it was Mufti Mohammad Sayeed under whose government twenty two militant commanders were gunned down despite most of them having stepped forward for talks.According to a statement issued the NC Spokesman said that PDP eliminated most of the top militant leadership in Kashmir as soon as Mufti Mohammad Sayeed came to power as the Chief Minister of the State. These targeted killings were done while these militant commanders were talking to the government and were in an effective unilateral cease-fire. It was the National Conference government that had achieved success in bringing the militant leadership to the negotiation table after convincing them to announce a cease-fire. Tragically however, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed made it a priority to eliminate every single militant commander who had stepped forward to talk as soon as he became Chief Minister of the State.
Mattu said that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's criticism of National Conference is both historically and factually inaccurate. It was Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who turned Kashmir into a mass graveyard within months of taking over as the Home Minister of India and forced thousands of Kashmiri youth to take up arms. Had Mufti Sayeed not become the Home Minister of India and had he not personally deputed Jagmohan as the Governor of J&K militancy and turmoil wouldn't have reached the levels it did and thousands of lives would have been saved.The NC Spokesman said that it was the Dr. Farooq Abdullah government that started a phase of reconstruction and reconciliation in 1996 after the State was yet to recover from the Mufti-Jagmohan tactical oppression of Kashmiris and it is the Omar Abdullah government that has ushered the State into a phase of peace, harmony, amnesty and reconciliation. It was the PDP that opposed the rehablitation policy for youth who had crossed over the LoC and it is the Omar Abdullah government that ensured the return and rehabilitation of hundreds of youth from across the LoC.Mattu said that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has to answer for his role in wanton bloodshed and massacres in Kashmir and propagating blatant lies will not absolve him of his sins.