Voices stifled in Kashmir Valley: Mehbooba Mufti at Delhi protest

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 6

Claiming Kashmir is in pain, J&K’s ex-Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti today staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar to protest the alleged repression of UT people and demanded that the “killing of innocents be stopped immediately”.

Kashmir in pain, alleges PDP leader

• Mehbooba Mufti alleges Kashmir is in pain and it has become a prison where people are not allowed to express themselves.
• Corruption is at peak in Jammu and Kashmir. Besides, local residents are being deprived of jobs, adds the PDP president.

The PDP president said she decided to stage the protest in the National Capital as she was never allowed to register her protest in Kashmir. She said she was either detained at her house or whisked away by the police every time she planned a protest.

It is worth mentioning here that National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah had yesterday remarked that to change the course of events in J&K, the UT people should protest like the farming community did for the repeal of the three contentious farm laws.

While interacting with mediapersons, Mehbooba said, “Kashmir has become a prison where people are not allowed to express their opinion. They have been repressed since August 2019. What surprises me is how the government is busy portraying that everything is hunky-dory in the Valley with the help of some of the paid media.”

Carrying a placard that read “Kashmir is in pain”, Mehbooba said, “You have seen what happened in Nagaland where 13 civilians were gunned down. An FIR has been lodged immediately. Why does the same not happen in Kashmir as well? Though I do not have much hope that anything is going to come out of these inquiries, still the government is seen doing something.”

Mehbooba alleged that corruption was at its peak in J&K and local residents were being deprived of jobs. “I have come here to tell the people that if they don’t wake up even now, the day is not far when the nation of (Mahatma) Gandhi and (BR) Ambedkar will get converted into (Nathuram) Godse’s country and after that we all will be helpless,” she said.

When she was requested by photo journalists to remove her facemask for better pictures, she smilingly said, “If I remove the mask, I can be booked under UAPA immediately.”

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