The Former Jammu Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti staged a sit-in at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Monday to protest against the ongoing repression of the people of Jammu Kashmir.
The Jammu Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president said she decided to stage a dharna in the national capital as she was never allowed to register her protest in Kashmir.
“I am either detained at my house or whisked away by police every time I planned a protest,” Mufti who was flanked by scores of PDP workers said.
She said that Kashmir has become an open prison where people are not allowed to express their opinion. “They are being repressed since August 2019 and what surprises me is how the government is busy portraying that everything was hunky-dory in the valley with the help of some of the paid media,” she told reporters.
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 but still the government is seen acting.”
Several photojournalists requested Mehbooba to remove her mask for a better picture but she replied, “if I remove the mask, I can be booked under UAPA immediately”.