PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti stages protest in Srinagar, burns posters of Netanyahu to condemn ongoing action against Iran

Srinagar: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday staged a protest, burning posters of Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump to condemn the ongoing US-Israeli military action against Iran and the reported killing of its supreme leader in the strikes.

The demonstration, held amid broader protests in the Valley following the reported death of Khamenei in US-Israel strikes, saw party workers and supporters carrying large posters of Khamenei and raising loud anti-US and anti-Israel slogans. Authorities have maintained heightened security in Srinagar and elsewhere as protests spread across Jammu and Kashmir in recent days.

Senior PDP leader Zuhaib Yousuf Mir, a party spokesperson and general secretary of its youth wing, was also present at the rally, joining Mufti and others in expressing solidarity with Iran and condemning Western actions.

Mir has been a vocal party figure on regional issues and was seen among protesters at Lal Chowk earlier in the week during demonstrations over Khamenei’s reported killing.

During the protest, Mufti also set ablaze a poster of American financier Jeffrey Epstein, whose past associations with high-profile figures, including Trump, have been widely reported.

After the symbolic act, Mufti shared video footage of the protest on the social media platform X, stating, “I stand in peace with those who stand in peace with you, and in opposition to those who oppose you, until the Day of Judgment,” alongside images of the burning posters.

Mufti has been an outspoken critic of the US-Israel strikes since hostilities began and has accused both the Government of India and the National Conference-led administration in Jammu and Kashmir of remaining silent on what she described as “blatant aggression” against a sovereign nation.

The protests reflect a broader wave of demonstrations that have taken place in Srinagar and other parts of the region after reports of Khamenei’s death, with thousands of people, including Shia Muslim communities, marching, carrying portraits of the Iranian leader, and chanting slogans of solidarity with Iran.

Authorities responded by ordering closures of schools and colleges as a precautionary measure and keeping a tight security presence.