‘Kashmiris having rethink on accession’
SRINAGAR : People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday hit out at government over alleged oppression and atrocities committed against Kashmiris, saying the Valley was operating under the “law of jungle”.
“There is a law of jungle here. Yesterday, armymen assaulted a sub-divisional magistrate and the staff accompanying him. Today our roads are being closed (ban on national highway). Prison inmates are beaten up. Bodies (of militants killed) are mutilated and burnt by throwing some chemicals during encounters,” she said while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an election meeting in south Kashmir’s Anantnag.
Deploring various atrocities on people in the Valley, Mehbooba claimed the situation in Kashmir has worsened to an extent that the people have begun rethinking over the state’s accession to India.
“It doesn’t seem we are with the India to which Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and Maharaja Hari Singh had acceded. That India was the country of all; Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs,” she said. “Today, there is so much of oppression and atrocities committed that Kashmiris are terrified and think which India did we accede to!” Mehbooba added.
Sharing a similar sentiment in a tweet, the former chief minister said, “Every human even a militant deserves dignity after death. Armed forces use of chemicals in encounters disfiguring their bodies is inhuman. imagine the emotions that’ll overcome a boy who sees his brother’s mutilated charred body. Would you be surprised if he picked up a gun?.”
Drawing sharp reaction, Bharatiya Janata Party’s state spokesperson, Altaf Thakur said Mehbooba was making these statements to gain political mileage.
“Indian Army is highly professional and has never indulged in such actions. She (Mehbooba) is making these statements only for elections,” Thakur said.