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BJP weakening secularism in India: Mehbooba
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti also ‘saluted’ Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for exhibiting the courage to undertake Bharat Jodo Yatra
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of weakening foundations of secularism in India.
She also ‘saluted’ Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for exhibiting the courage to undertake Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“Communal brotherhood, secularism and democracy are the essence of this nation, but in the past seven to eight years, these foundations are being weakened. The roots of secularism in this nation are being uprooted. In such an atmosphere, Rahul Gandhi has embarked on Bharat Jodo Yatra. We salute him for his courage… for reuniting the nation,” she told reporters outside the PDP office in Jammu.
On Saturday, Mehbooba had asked the J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha to not force the Kashmiri Pandit staffers to return to Kashmir.
“He (Sinha) should try to know their hardships and find a way out, but he issued a diktat that their salaries will not be released unless they join their duties (in Kashmir). All of us have suffered (because of militancy), but Pandits suffered more. Recently, targeted killings also took place in Kashmir. Therefore, the issue needs to be looked into with right earnest, and for sometime their demands should be conceded,” she had said.
Meanwhile, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and in-charge, J&K affairs, Rajni Patil met Sinha on Monday to discuss the upcoming Bharat Jodo Yatra led by party leader Rahul Gandhi.
KB Byju, security adviser to Rahul Gandhi, also accompanied them.
After meeting the LG, they left for Srinagar.
“The meeting with the L-G was in connection with the upcoming Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi in the third week of January. The meeting lasted for over half an hour,” said a party spokesperson.
Not everyone in J&K should be viewed through militancy prism: Azad
Democratic Azad Party (DAP) president Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday sought a distinction between militants and common people in Jammu and Kashmir from the administration.
He said that every person in the union territory should not be eyed with suspicion.
“Everyone should not viewed from the prism of militancy,” Azad told reporters in south Kashmir’s Anantnag.
When asked about the sealing of properties of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) by the government, Azad said every party has its rights, but a difference needs to be drawn between a ‘militant’ and a ‘non-militant’.
“For all, there should be a policy that we should not see every person in J&K with suspicion. Militants fall in a separate category and to deal with them, every government has a policy. I have never said that he should be forgiven,” he added.
The central government had in 2019 banned the JeI for five years for its ‘anti-national activities’ after which a process to seal the properties of the outfit was started.
So far, the state investigation agency has identified as many as 188 JeI properties across the union territory, which have either been sealed or are under the process of being notified for further legal action which it said was “to choke the availability of funds for secessionist activities and to dismantle the ecosystem of anti-national elements and terror networks hostile to India’s sovereignty”.
Azad said that commoners should not be targeted with raids or arrests.
“The common people, who have no concern with the militancy, should not be arrested or put under suspicion,” he said.
(With inputs from HTC, Srinagar)
