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Under house arrest, stopped from visiting slain pandit’s family: Mehbooba
Former J&K chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti also tweeted pictures of a locked and chained gate and a CRPF vehicle stationed outside her house at Gupkar
Former J&K chief minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said that she was put under house arrest by the administration to stop her from visiting the family of Sunil Kumar, a Kashmiri Pandit who was killed in a militant attack in Shopian on August 16.
Mufti tweeted pictures of a locked and chained gate and a CRPF vehicle stationed outside her house at Gupkar.
The PDP leader alleged that the mainstream leaders like her are being projected as the enemy of Kashmiri Pandits.
“GOI wants to push the plight of Kashmiri Pandits under the rug because it’s their callous policies that have led to unfortunate targeted killings of those who chose not to flee. Projecting us mainstream as their enemy is why I’ve been placed under house arrest today,” she said in a series of tweets.
She claimed that her attempts to visit Sunil’s family at Chotigam on Sunday were ‘scuttled by the administration’.
“The same administration claims that locking us up is for our own security while they themselves visit every nook and corner of the Valley,” she said.
Sunil, 48, a fruit farmer, was shot dead and his cousin, Pitambar, injured when militants opened fire on them in their orchard.
‘Govt did not address apprehensions that non-locals will get power to vote en masse’
Mehbooba also said that the Jammu and Kashmir government’s clarification over the addition of new voters has not addressed the apprehension of people about non-locals getting power to vote en masse in the union territory.
Mufti, in a tweet, said that the statement by the government was a ‘silent endorsement’ of what was earlier said by chief electoral officer Hirdesh Kumar Singh.
“The ‘Clarification’ issued by DIPR is a silent endorsement of the statement given by the Chief Election Officer. Doesn’t address our apprehensions about non locals en masse being given the power to vote.Yet another design to dispossess people of J&K (sic),” she said.
The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administration had on Saturday dismissed reports of a likely addition of 2.5 million voters after the summary revision of electoral rolls and termed the controversy a ‘misrepresentation of facts by vested interests’.
Why is govt interfering in poll panel’s matters: Tarigami
Meanwhile, People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) spokesperson and CPI(M) leader MY Tarigami asked why was the government interfering in issues of election commission by issuing clarification about something which was said by the chief electoral officer.
“The election commission didn’t issue any clarification in response to chief electoral officer’s statements. Didn’t say whether it was right or wrong. Whatever was said has caused anxieties among people both in Jammu as well as Kashmir. But yesterday, directorate of information and public relations issued a clarification. Till now, we have been told that the government has no role in election commission. How come now it (government) has interfered?” Tarigami said.
