Srinagar: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said the actions of the Jammu and Kashmir administration hint towards the Supreme Court passing a verdict on petitions related to Article 370 of the Constitution that “might be against the interest of the country”.
“Since Friday night, we are witnessing that lists containing the names of the workers of different parties, especially the PDP, are being prepared by police and it seems that such a decision is to come which is not in favour of this country and Jammu and Kashmir, but only to further the BJP’s agenda and hence, some precautionary measures are being taken, which is unfortunate,” Mufti told reporters in Anantnag.
She asserted that it is the apex court’s responsibility to ensure that it does not push the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) agenda, but keeps the integrity of the country and its Constitution intact.
Mufti said the court verdict should be clear that the decision taken by the BJP-led Centre on August 05, 2019 to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 was “illegal, unconstitutional, against Jammu and Kashmir and the promises made to the people here”.
“First, the Supreme Court took a lot of time to hear the cases. It took five years. Then the Supreme Court itself in its previous judgments has said no one can abrogate Article 370 barring the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.
“So I think the decision should be simple that whatever was done on August 05, 2019 was illegal, unconstitutional, against Jammu and Kashmir and the promises made to the people here,” she said.
Earlier, addressing the party workers, Mufti said police have become active and are planning to detain those associated with the PDP. She said this has created a doubt whether there was a “fixed match”.
“You want to keep the Indian Constitution and democracy alive or the BJP’s agenda — you have to decide this. But I am seeing that police have become active since Friday night. They are making lists so that people are detained before the decision. This creates a doubt if there is a fixed match,” she said.
The former chief minister said the Constitution of the country is more important and sacred than the BJP’s agenda.
“I want to tell the Supreme Court judges that governments will come and go, but the Constitution and the belief shown by the people of Jammu and Kashmir in this country in 1947 is more important and sacred than the BJP’s agenda,” she said.
Mufti on Saturday also visited the residence of Police Inspector Masroor Ahmad Wani who was killed in a terror attack.
Wani was shot by a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist when he was playing cricket in Srinagar in October. He died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi on Thursday.
Mufti visited the cop’s residence in Narwara in Eidgah locality of the city.
“PDP President @MehboobaMufti paid a condolence visit at the residence of slain cop Masroor Ahmed & expressed her sympathies with the bereaved family,” the party said in a post on X.
Mufti said the incident betrayed the persistent cycle of violence in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming yet another family as its victim.
