Srinagar: Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti has triggered a political storm after drawing a parallel between the Gen-Z protesters at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and the agitators in Kashmir, asserting that force was justified in the Valley to fight militancy.
During her Jantar Mantar visit earlier this week, Mehbooba Mufti said the government’s crackdowns on local demonstrators in the past were justified in the context of its fight against militancy.
The comments drew swift and sharp backlash from rival political parties, who revived the former chief minister’s 2016 remark — in which she asked if the young protesters who approached the Army posts were there to buy “milk and toffee” — to accuse her of blatant hypocrisy.
The PDP, however, accused the ruling National Conference of using Artificial Intelligence to twist Mufti’s statement at Jantar Mantar.
While opposing police action against student protesters in Delhi, the PDP chief appeared to defend the use of pellet guns in the Valley in the past, saying that it was different in Kashmir as the security forces were fighting militancy.
Reacting sharply to the statement, the National Conference posted on its official X handle: “If you happen to be a Kashmiri who is protesting for his/her rights, ‘aap pe force use karna to banta hai’ (it is justified to use force against you). Wow.”
Party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar accused the PDP chief of unabashedly defending the use of brutal force against local youth and children.
“I am appalled beyond words. Mehbooba Mufti unabashedly and casually brands every Kashmiri protester a ‘militant’. The kids, the little girls… just everyone was a militant, she says,” Dar posted on X.
“Even shame must be ashamed today. Her hypocrisy is uglier than what I believed,” he added.
Demanding an apology, NC leader and Zadibal MLA Tanvir Sadiq questioned whether the everyday civil demonstrations were now being labelled as armed resistance.
“Are those who protest against reservation militants? Are those who protest for basic amenities also militants? This is shameful coming from a former chief minister,” Sadiq said, adding that Mehbooba Mufti owes an immediate apology to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
In response, PDP leader Waheed Para accused the National Conference of twisting Mufti’s statement using Artificial Intelligence (AI), as she had mentioned at length that youth of the country were being subjected to the same measures that the youth of Kashmir have suffered for a long time.
“They have edited the clip using AI. Mehbooba Mufti said the government justifies the action in Kashmir by claiming that there is militancy here. She said that what happened in Kashmir is now being transferred to the rest of the country. Just like UAPA was used in Jammu and Kashmir, it was used in Delhi against students, be it Sharjeel Imam or Umar Khalid. Students in Kashmir were lathicharged, and the same was done in Delhi,” Para said.
“So, she was only pointing out that the treatment meted out to the youth of Kashmir is now being extended to the youth of the entire country. What was the justification for doing this in Delhi, where the circumstances are different?” Para asked.
Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari said he was neither shocked nor surprised by the PDP chief’s remarks, citing her controversial record during her tenure as chief minister during the 2016 summer unrest in the Valley.
“This is, after all, the same leader who justified the killing of Kashmiri children by asking, ‘Kya woh doodh aur toffee lane gaye the?’ (Had those children gone to fetch milk and toffees?),” Bukhari said.
He added that the region has not forgotten the human toll of her administration’s policies.
“It was under her government that pellet guns were used against protesting children. Hundreds of young boys and girls lost their eyesight or suffered permanent injuries because of those pellets. These are painful memories that no amount of political rhetoric can erase,” he said.
