Srinagar: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president, Mehbooba Mufti warned on Friday that any attempt at dividing Jammu and Kashmir along the religious lines would validate the ‘two-nation theory’ propounded by Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
“Our leadership rejected the two-nation theory, believing this to be Gandhi’s India. If today we start dividing states on religious lines, it would mean Jinnah’s idea was right,” Mehbooba Mufti said while addressing the media here.
She was responding to a question about the demands for a separate state for the Jammu region being raised by some right-wing leaders.
“The atmosphere that is being created in Jammu would mean that they negate the decision of the J&K to align with India by rejecting Jinnah’s two-nation theory. If they divide Jammu-Kashmir on the basis of religion, it would mean Jinnah was right. If that happens, it will be a very wrong decision,” she said.
Referring to the closure of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) in Reasi district, the PDP president said it was wrong and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah should have intervened.
“It is not a question of one Mata Vaishno Devi College, it can become a pattern as it is an experiment. All the experiments conducted in Jammu and Kashmir have been implemented across the country. Regrettably, Abdullah stated a day before that the college should be shut. Was it already discussed with the chief minister that he stated it, and then a day later, the order was issued?” she said.
She said the question now was not about transferring the students who were studying in the college, as that is the responsibility of the government, but about its impact.
“If this is repeated at other places and education is politicised in the name of religion, then what will happen? If our youth, especially Muslim youth, don’t get a place in J&K, then what will happen in Haryana or other states? If the family members are expelled from their own home, then what will others do?” she asked.
This move, Mufti said, can “encourage communal forces” in other places to “replicate” it.
“This is a totally wrong decision and our chief minister should have opposed it. He should have taken up the matter with the central government because this decision was taken only to expel Kashmiri Muslim students. This move can encourage communal forces in other places and they can replicate it,” she added.
She said she fears that this will become a pattern. “Jammu and Kashmir is being used as a lab for experiments, and whatever is tried here is later repeated elsewhere in the country,” she added.
Drawing parallels with actions by central agencies, the PDP chief said enforcement measures such as ED raids were first intensified in Kashmir and later expanded across the country.
“When Article 370 was revoked, when raids took place and when three CMs were put behind bars, the majority of political parties maintained silence. Now, that is being witnessed across the country,” she added, referring to the detention of herself, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370.
PDP president also described West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as a “tigress”, saying the TMC chief is “very brave” and will not surrender.
Reacting to Thursday’s ED searches at the office of the political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata. The action ignited high drama with the West Bengal chief minister storming at the raid site, alleging that the central agency was trying to seize the TMC’s sensitive data ahead of the state polls.
Mufti said that while such raids by ED or other investigative agencies have become a normal thing in Jammu and Kashmir, “the whole country is tasting it now”.
“I am hopeful that Banerjee is very brave, she is a tigress and she will effectively fight them and not surrender,” the PDP chief added.
