Former PDP lawmaker Javed Mir joins Shah Faesal’s J-K People's Movement

Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Javed Mustafa Mir on Wednesday joined Shah Faesal’s Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement. Javed Mir represented the Chadoora assembly constituency in central Kashmir's Budgam district for three successive terms from 2002. Mir was inducted as revenue minister in the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led PDP-BJP government in 2015. However, he was dropped from the cabinet when Mehbooba Mufti assumed office in April 2016 after her father's death.  

Javed Mir resigned left the PDP last month. "I have resigned from the PDP. It is my personal decision and I will not speak anything more on this at this moment," he had said. Mir resignation came after Maulana Imran Ansari, Abid Ansari, Haseeb Drabu and Basharat Bukhari decided to quit the party. Mir’s father was Mustafa Mir, a veteran political leader who was shot dead by terrorists in 1990s.

Earlier, Shah Faesal launched his political party the 'Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement' ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha polls at Rajbagh’s Gindan park in Srinagar. Claiming support from other parts of the state as well, Faesal said, I had to decide which party to join, and I was about to join one particular party and they gave me a lot of respect. But during that time, I was abused by everyone and today I want to thank all those people. Those abuses helped me start this party, he said. Former JNU student leader and activist Shehla Rashid Shora also joined Faesal’s party. Shehla has been working closely with Faesal over the past few months and was involved in the decision-making process for the inception of the party.  

Faesal has been travelling through different districts in the Valley, meeting and bringing “like-minded individuals” into the fold. The party released a vision document before its launch. The vision document said the party will pursue a “peaceful resolution of the Kashmir problem as per the will and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir”. The manifesto said the party will attempt to bring about “sustainable peace” in the state by “making the people politically empowered, economically prosperous, socially emancipated, ethically evolved, culturally enlightened and environmentally conscious”.