#KashmirFiles: Mehbooba Mufti slams BJP over Rahul Bhat’s killing

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti accused the BJP of ‘creating Hindu-Muslim issue to divert attention from other issues’.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday launched an all out attack on the BJP over the Gyanvapi Mosque row, alleging that the saffron party was after the mosques. She also blamed ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie for the killing of Kashmiri Pandit employee Rahul Bhat.

“ They are after all our mosques. Give us a list of all mosques you are eyeing… They are after Gyanvapi mosque now. Would everything be okay when they take all of it?” news agency ANI quoted Mufti saying this to reporters.

Mufti, who ruled Jammu and Kashmir briefly in alliance with the BJP when it was a state until the abrogation of Article 370, blamed the movie ‘Kashmir Files’ for triggering the attacks on Kashmiri Pandits, the most recent one being the killing of tehsil office employee Rahul Bhat in Budgam on May 10. “We created a safe atmosphere for Kashmiri pandits. In 2010, 2016 during peak unrest, no killing happened. The KashmiriFiles movie has also triggered it. They’re creating Hindu-Muslim issues to distract from real topics and are after the Gyanvapi mosque now,” she said.

The PDP chief’s remark comes on the day when a court in Varanasi ordered that a pond in the Gyanvapi Mosque complex be sealed amid reports of a ‘Shivling’ being found in it. The court has ordered the Varanasi DM Kaushal Raj Sharma to seal the area and prohibit the entry of any person there. The court has also said the DM, police commissioner and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandant Varanasi will be responsible for the security of the sealed area.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear a plea seeking direction for a stay on the survey of the mosque complex. The top court bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud will hear the petition by Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee.