Govt building Godse's Kashmir: Mehbooba Mufti lashes out

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti slammed the Centre for projecting Jammu and Kashmir as a peaceful “Naya Kashmir” but in reality there was blood on the streets. In her view, the government is using Kashmir as “laboratory” to test UAPA laws and “building Godse’s Kashmir”.

Speaking at the Aaj Tak summit, Mufti said after removing article 370 unconstitutionally and illegally, the government said they have built ‘Naya Kashmir’. But she questioned this Naya Kashmir that is being advertised and said that it is not a reality.

 “Today, a 18-month-old daughter is sitting in a protest to get the body of her father who was killed by security forces. A sister is waiting for her brother’s dead body. The blood on the streets has to be washed with water,” she said. Unfortunately, most media outlets are running the government’s narrative, she added.

Further, today, a Kashmiri Pandit was killed in broad daylight. “The road is covered with the blood of a Bihari man and we call it Naya Kashmir? Is this what we anticipated from the word ‘Naya Kashmir’? Everywhere the situation is projected to be better, then why are the number of paramilitary forces increased and fresh bunkers built?” she asked. 

Mufti then turned on the Centre for creating a ‘Naya Hindustan’, in which anyone talking about the Constitution is labelled as a ‘tukde tukde gang’. And minorities irrespective of being a roadside vendor or a film star are social outcasts. While farmers demanding repeal of farm laws are labelled as Khalistanis and booked under UAPA. “This is not Gandhi’s Hindustan; this is Godse’s Hindustan. And they’re building Godse’s Kashmir”, she reiterated.

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Mufti went on warn people that whatever is happening in Kashmir can be replicated in the rest of the country. She said not to be fooled by the government and today anyone can be affected by laws like the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act). 

“If today anyone thinks that he or she won’t be affected by these kinds of laws, then let me remind you that Kashmir is a laboratory for them,” she said, adding that UAPA was abused first in Kashmir and now it is being followed in the rest of the country. Similarly, she also criticised the government for giving extra powers to Border Security Force.

On being asked if teaming up with the BJP had been a big mistake, Mufti said that her late father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had tied up with the BJP in 2014 only because he wanted to usher in a new regime of peace in the state. “My father never did it as a mistake. My father had seen a statesman like Atal Bihari Vajpayee earlier and he had hoped that the new regime of BJP will work on the same ideology,” she said.

“Mufti Sa’ab thought BJP wale were patriotic”, she added. But, according to her, they can sacrifice anything, including Kashmir, for political gains. “They run over farmers. They can do anything. When we came to meet PM Modi, the media showed us as if we were separatists”, she said.

The Kashmiris embraced the national tricolour in 1947 when they joined India, said Mufti. “But if it was today’s regime at the helm of affairs then, I am afraid the results would have been different,” she added. To a question as to what difference did the abrogation of Article 370 make, she said, “We have been betrayed first and foremost. If this was a guarantee, why was it (abrogation) done? she asked. According to Mufti, many states do not allow outsiders to buy land or ensure employment for their own people. If there is no problem with that, then why single out only Kashmir, she pointed out.

Muftil also urged the Centre to begin the political process in Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest and initiate a dialogue process. She also added that she was not against the security forces and said it was because of the hard work of the security forces that peace was achieved to hold the elections. “However, the politicians should not use the shoulder of security forces to aim at innocent people,” she said.

On the Gupkar Alliance, Mufti said it is a coalition of parties for the just cause of Jammu and Kashmir. If the PDP and BJP, which were poles apart could come together, why not the National Conference and PDP? she asked. “Moreover, we have not decided on the electoral process yet…because elections are not on priority for Mehbooba Mufti,” she said. 

The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) is a coalition of seven political parties, including the NC and the PDP.