Won't Be Silent About BJP's Attack On Opposition Parties: Mehbooba Mufti

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said his party would not remain silent about the alleged onslaught of the BJP on the opposition parties in pursuit of its goal of "making India a BJP Rashtra”.

The former chief minister said the gloomy faces of the people speaks about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, where thousands of youths have been jailed and an atmosphere of fear has been created.

“I want to ask all political parties in the country to wake up as what happened to J&K (after 2019) is finally reaching their necks. You preferred to remain silent or speak in a half-hearted manner but we will not remain silent and will fight not only for ourselves but for you as well,” Ms Mufti said addressing a public meeting in the border district of Poonch.

The PDP leader, who is currently on a three-day tour of Pir Panjal region, said she was warning that BJP has turned J&K into a laboratory to experiment its policies before their implementation in other parts of the country.

“The opposition parties in the country did not understand what was happening to us. Today when the BJP is trampling democracy by jailing opposition leaders with the help of the Enforcement Directorate and CBI, they have started feeling the heat,” she later told reporters.

She said the abrogation of Article 370 was unconstitutional but majority of the leaders stayed silent. “I am of firm belief that we will get back Article 370 with interest. They will come and ask what else you want.” Referring to the slapping of Public Safety Act (PSA) on political leaders including her and two other former chief ministers, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba said J&K was turned into a jail and an atmosphere of fear was created to silence the people.

Ms Mufti said they are not in favour of making India a “Hindu Rashtra” but their policies are aimed at making it a “BJP Rashtra” where everyone who aligns with them will be welcomed.

She also opposed the property tax and hiring of a previously black listed company by the J-K administration to fill vacancies in different government departments and said the youth are the worst sufferers of the policies of the administration.

The PDP chief said from Lt Governor to bureaucrats, everyone has been brought from outside and they (BJP) are claiming to install a chief minister from Jammu.

“Had they been serious, they would have installed a Lt Governor from Jammu or at least one of his advisors but they only believe in hoodwinking the public to get votes,” she said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)