Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said there was a growing intolerance in the country and urged the chief minister to send a ministerial team to different states to ensure safety of Kashmiris there in the wake of the harassment incidents.
“The intolerance in the entire country has increased. Lynchings are taking place. What is happening in Bangladesh pains us, but those who criticise it watch as mute spectators when lynchings take place here,” Mehbooba Mufti told reporters here.
Referring to the assault on a Kashmiri trader in Uttarakhand, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief said she immediately put out a tweet and tagged the Uttarakhand DGP, seeking his intervention on the issue.
“That is why the accused was arrested. There are still some officers in the police who respond. But three incidents took place in 72 hours? In Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. What is happening is distressing,” she added.
She further urged the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to constitute a ministerial team and send it to the states to ensure the safety of the Kashmiris there.
“Our government should send a ministerial team to every state and especially to Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, where most of such incidents take place,” she said.
Mufti also said it was “surprising” that her plea in the high court on seeking transfer of Jammu and Kashmir prisoners back home from jails elsewhere was rejected.
A PIL filed by Mufti seeking transfer of local inmates was dismissed by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh with the observation that it appeared to have been filed to garner political mileage.
“The decision of the court is unfortunate and surprising,” Mufti said.
She said the high court says any “Tom, Dick or Harry” can file a PIL, but since she is a politician, her PIL was for political reasons.
“The high court is forgetting that politicians remain closely connected to ground realities, and I, as a politician, know the situation of the people of J&K. The poor people cannot go to meet their kin in jail. How can they fight their case?” she said.
The PDP chief also wondered why the court did not take suo motu cognisance of the issue.
“I think it is not for the court to cast aspersions on my character. As a politician, I have every right to raise an issue. The court should have taken suo motu cognisance. They should have asked the government how many undertrials are in jails and what problems they were facing,” she said.
The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of J&K said the discussion in the court should have been on the issue, irrespective of her profession. “The court has given strange reasoning to dismiss my case,” she said.
“The decision should have been based on logic, but I regret that the court gave such a decision, saying I am playing politics. Under Article 21, we have a fundamental right to raise these issues and move courts,” she said, adding, her party will not let the issue die.
She said her demand was limited to transferring those detainees who have not been convicted, and that the ruling had dealt a blow to faith in the judiciary.
Mufti also demanded that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah constitute a team of ministers and MLAs to visit jails across the country to know the state of J&K prisoners.
“I had hoped that the elected government here would do something about it. If the government or its MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha cannot do anything, they should at least provide legal aid to the prisoners,” she said.
Asked about ruling National Conference (NC) Lok Sabha MP Ruhullah Mehdi’s warning of protests over the issue of rationalisation of reservation, Mufti said it was for the government to take a decision.
“We want justice for open merit candidates. The government should take a stand. Ruhullah is a part of the government. He should discuss it with them and persuade them,” she said.
On Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq removing the designation of ‘chairman of Hurriyat Conference’ from his X profile, Mufti said that while it was a personal choice, the government should address the idea behind the Hurriyat.
“It is his (Mirwaiz’s) personal decision. But, I want to say the whole Hurriyat leadership is in jail, so there should not be new camps being put up, or new arrests made and surveillance on ideas,” she said.
“Hurriyat is an idea, it is not a person who can be thrown in jail. It is the alienation that the people feel between the country and themselves.
“You can jail people, you can remove names from a platform, but there is a need to address the alienation,” the PDP chief added.
Asked about the suspension of life sentence to rape convict former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, Mufti alleged that the “judiciary has been politicised.”
She, however, added that a few judges were still willing to stand up to the power. She was referring to the Surajpur district court’s refusal to withdraw charges against the accused in the Akhlaq lynching case.
She said Judge Saurabh Dwivedi fought the government and told them that they cannot withdraw the case, and ordered it to be heard every day. “It means there is a mixed bag. If the majority has become politicised, there are few judges like Judge Dwivedi,” she said. (WITH PTI INPUTS)
Journalist’s request to speak Urdu at presser irritates Mehbooba Mufti
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Friday snapped at a journalist here for asking her to speak in Urdu at a press conference.
As soon as Mufti began her presser at the party headquarters in Kashmiri language, a journalist asked her to speak in Urdu.
The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir snapped at the journalist, questioning why the media doesn’t ask Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to speak either in English or Urdu.
“Why? Translate it. Why don’t you ask Stalin to speak in English or Urdu?” she said.
The PDP president said Kashmiri journalists should show some respect for the Kashmiri language.
“This is the only thing that is left now, so respect the Kashmiri language a little,” she added and continued speaking in Kashmiri. (PTI)
