People’s Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday issued a video statement on her social media handles paying tributes to the martyrs of July 13, 1931.
Responding sharply over the imposition of restrictions on Kashmiri political leaders, the former Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir said that the restrictions over paying simple tributes to the martyrs of 1931 have forced the people of Jammu Kashmir to think if they made the correct decision to accede to India.
“The BJP-led government’s decision to increase power of LG is a direct attack on the people of the state and will further disempower the region. First, the special status was revoked, the state was divided, and people are being pushed out of jobs. Criticism is being criminalized, with thousands imprisoned and little voice left on the ground. It seems they are now fearful of the silence of the Kashmiris,” Mehbooba Mufti emphasized.
“It is shameful that the assembly representing the people of Jammu and Kashmir is being disempowered. The BJP knows they cannot form a government here, so they are transferring assembly powers to the LG, who is appointed from outside and has no understanding of Kashmir,” the former Chief Minister said.
She noted that while the BJP government claims it will take over the Pakistani side of Kashmir, they have simultaneously made life for Kashmiri citizens unbearable. “I urge the people of India to recognize that Kashmir is being used as a laboratory, and whatever happens here will eventually affect the rest of India. I appeal to the citizens of Gandhi’s India to help save Jammu and Kashmir. Is land all you seek? Are Kashmiris not your own? We are being humiliated on a daily basis and need protection,” she stated.