You can’t jail an idea: Mehbooba Mufti again advocating for the resolution of Kashmir Issue
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday again advocated for the resolution of Kashmir issue and said despite presence of 10 lakh armed personnel and investigation agencies like NIA and ED, the central government was unable to “control” Kashmiris.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, while addressing a youth convention in Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir park, said, “Ten lakh personnel from armed forces are already here and more are arriving. Then there are ED, NIA and SIA, but they (Centre) are still not able to control Kashmiris. You can’t put an idea in jail. Till you don’t find a cure for this idea, you can’t solve the Kashmir issue.”
She also lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. Vowing to continue the struggle for the restoration of J&K’s special status, the PDP chief said, “I want to say that whatever was snatched away from us would be brought back with interest.”
The former J&K chief minister also warned the Centre not to behave “like those raiders from Pakistan who came to the Valley in 1947” and were forced to flee by Kashmiris. “I want to tell the BJP people that these are those Kashmiris who drove away the attackers without any weapons and even before the Indian Army had landed here. So don’t become attackers as Kashmiris know how to drive them out,” she added.
“We have formed a bond of heart with this country, the constitutional bond, the bond of love, but what did you do? You played with our dignity, our identity. You destroyed the whole state. This will not work,” Mehbooba said.
She also asked people not to lose hope and use the “weapons” of assembly and panchayat to fight. “If you want to fight, this is your small as well as big weapon. Panchayats, local bodies or assembly are the weapons in your hands and you should not leave them for someone else,” she added.
Mehbooba also said that lives of Kashmiris, particularly the youth, have become miserable. “Youths are not even allowed to think today. If they write anything on Facebook, say anything or even breathe, they are snatched away (arrested),” she added.
‘J&K people bearing brunt of gun from both sides’
The PDP chief said that people of J&K were bearing the “brunt of the gun from both sides”. “On one hand, militants kill us in the name of informers. They kill our policemen, Kashmiri Pandits or those who come from outside. But, on the other hand, our own country’s gun is killing the youth here in the name of hybrid militancy and white-collared militants,” she said.
