SRINAGAR: A day after the Gupkar Alliance passed a resolution calling for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A and statehood to J&K, PDP chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said J&K had acceded to the secular India of Gandhi, Nehru and the Congress and alleged that anyone speaking against the Centre is being put behind bars.
Talking to reporters in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, Mehbooba praised party workers for standing by the PDP. “The leaders have run away but workers are standing on the ground,” she said.
Asserting that J&K acceded to India due to the secular culture of the country, Mehbooba said, “The Congress may have some shortcomings, but the fact is that J&K acceded to secular India of Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. The Congress played a key role in J&K’s accession to India. Had there been no Nehru or no Congress and had there been no secular culture, I don’t think J&K would have acceded like this to India."
Taking a dig at the BJP-led government, Mehbooba said any activist, politician or student who speaks against the Centre is being jailed.
“The people of Kashmir should not feel disheartened. Whatever assets the Congress government created in the last 70 years, this government is selling. They are selling roads, bridges, petrol pumps, airports, railway stations, power projects, toll plazas etc. They have sold the entire country. What can we expect from them,” she asked.
The former J&K CM alleged that people in Kashmir are being suppressed. "I told PM Modi during the all party meeting that you should stop this suppression," she said.
Alleging that the Centre is telling lies that no political leader in J&K is in jail, she said, "A lot of political leaders are in jail. People are being released after decades by the courts. They are being released after being proved innocent in the courts."
“About 1000 to 1200 people from Kashmir are still in jails. Many of them are lodged in jails outside Kashmir and it is difficult for their family members to meet them and they have to arrange funds to meet them,” Mehbooba alleged.
Referring indirectly to the new domicile law, Mehbooba said India has 10 lakh troops in Kashmir and they will bring 10 lakh more here to give them plots.
“The Centre should have made a relationship with the people of J&K but they are after its land. Why is the Centre after the land,” she asked.