Mehbooba Mufti, a former chief minister and the head of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), today accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for utilising organisations to harass residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
“When the Pulwama incident occurred, over 40 jawans lost their life, a conversation started with the words we shall raid their residences and kill them,” Mehbooba remarked while speaking to a group of party workers at her home. I don’t know if they killed anyone in Balakote, but they have been tormenting our people in Jammu and Kashmir by breaking into our homes and utilising other agencies like the NIA, ED, CBI, and others. It is increasingly difficult for our people to leave their homes, she remarked.
She said that in J&K, people suffer from injustice. Since 1947, neither I nor our elders have seen a situation like this, and I am convinced of that. In particular, a new wave of tyranny that has been in effect since 2019 and is still going strong. People are the victims of injustice in one way or another, she remarked.
“The Amarnath yatra used to be a happy time for us. We used to wait for the yatra so that we could go to Pahalgam and visit the Sadhus who sat by the fire in the evening when I was a kid. But now they have made this yatra risky for us. The perfect example of Muslim-Hindu unity was this. Additionally, it would help our economy and low-wage workers, she added.
The PDP leader accused the BJP with using religious travel as a political tool. “However, the BJP has turned this yatra into a political tool rather than a religious trip. Today, it seems as though they have no intention of looking to the left or right before annexing Jammu and Kashmir. A newborn baby died in Anantnag as a result of the family’s car being denied permission to go. The people, especially those from South Kashmir, have experienced hardship as a result of the Yatra. They have made things difficult by allowing more yatris to access the cave because the ecosystem in the area only permits 5000 visitors every day,” she stated.
“Thousands of people were allowed to travel there, which caused deaths from the cloudburst. We haven’t heard anything yet since they’re lying when they say 15 to 16 people died, but based on the number of individuals still unaccounted for and the number of horse carcasses we’ve seen, it seems the real death toll is larger, she continued.
They were so obstinate that it seemed like they were there to conquer Jammu and Kashmir rather than to welcome our visitors or yatris. A committee was formed after a similar event in the past, and it was advised that, given the sensitive nature of the environment, no more than 5000–6000 worshippers visit the cave. The pilgrimage should only be open to one lakh people, and the yatra shouldn’t last for more than a month, she continued.
Mehbooba claimed that the BJP rejected of the terms under which J&K joined the country. But because they think this land belongs to someone else, they have been acting in the other way. They treat us as though this area belonged to someone else and reject the terms on which we joined this country. We cannot accept what has occurred while keeping quiet, she said.
The former Chief Minister urged with the people to resist or risk losing everything.
“If we continue to think in that way, we will become unrecognisable. Our land is currently being lost. A portion of it is allocated to the military, and a portion to business. Here, jobs are given to those from outside while we lose our jobs. What else are we supposed to do? Our language and the fact that some girls wear headscarves and certain men have beards are the only things that distinguish us. We run the risk of losing who we are if we don’t respond this time. People would eventually forget about Kashmiris, she added.
“Wars have been fought along some of Jammu and Kashmir’s borders, but others, like the one at Wagah, have been chosen for business reasons. Our small business has been disparaged and closed down. Nobody is taking any action to halt the discovery of drugs worth billions on Gujarati ships, she said.
(With Inputs from Excelsior and others)
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The Chenab Times News Desk
