Srinagar, Jul 21: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday urged Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to raise the issue of alleged Muslim victimisation across the country in the Monsoon session of Parliament, which started on Monday.
In a post on X, she alleged that Muslims are being pushed into increasingly desperate situations under the pretext of targeting “Bangladeshis” and “Rohingyas”. Disturbing media reports have even suggested that some were forced into the sea in attempts to expel them from India, she added.
“Deeply disturbed by the ongoing victimization, dispossession and disempowerment of Muslims on a daily basis – I have written to Rahul Gandhi ji urging him to raise this critical issue in the upcoming Parliament session,” Mufti said in the post on X.
She said in an environment “increasingly marked by hate and fear”, many have “lost hope and feel utterly helpless”.
“At this moment he stands as a rare source of hope for those who feel forgotten and voiceless,” the PDP president said.
In the letter to Gandhi, the former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir said while the horrific Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor and other critical security matters are expected to dominate discussions, she hopes the Opposition, especially the INDIA bloc, raises the “growing concern of Muslim victimisation across the country”.
“As you rightly highlighted during your visit to Assam the large scale demolition of thousands of Muslim homes is deeply troubling.
“The latest development the SIR being conducted in Bihar appears to be yet another systematic effort to dispossess, disempower, and ultimately disenfranchise Muslims, effectively erasing their presence both symbolically and literally,” Mufti said, referring to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Mufti said the Muslims who chose to remain in India during Partition did so because of the faith they had in the secular leadership of the Congress party from Mahatma Gandhi to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
“Today as the bearer of that legacy the responsibility falls on your shoulders to uphold and defend the secular and democratic values enshrined in our Constitution,” she said.
“When Hindus who are minorities in neighbouring countries like Pakistan or Bangladesh are targeted our nation rightly expresses outrage and the Union government intervenes. But when Muslims are targeted within our own country there is an unsettling silence, a fear that prevents many from speaking up,” she added.
The PDP chief said as a politician from the only Muslim majority region that “chose to join the Indian Union largely due to the vision and secular character of your great-grandfather”, she feels “extremely helpless” at times.
“Placing great hope in your leadership I urge you to continue speaking up for a minority that is being steadily marginalised and pushed to the fringes of Indian society,” she wrote in the letter.
