Regional PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said that Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to India of Gandhi and Nehru and if Congress would not have been there “the erstwhile state would not have been part of the country.”
“J&K had acceded with the secular India of (Mahatma) Gandhiji, Pandit Nehru and Indira Gandhi, where there was brotherhood. Congress had a big role in making J&K part of India. If there would have been no Congress and secular culture, which is being eroded gradually now, J&K wouldn’t have been part of India,” she said while addressing party workers in south Kashmir’s Shopian district.
The firebrand president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) advised the people of J&K to not have any regrets about the BJP government.
“They are arresting politicians, activists and students who dare to speak against them across the country and arresting Hurriyat leaders is no big deal for them,” she said.
The PDP chief said she told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in their June 24 meeting in New Delhi that if the policy of “suppression and oppression” continues in Kashmir, “its consequences won’t be good.”
Mehbooba, whose PDP was in alliance with the BJP from 2015-2018, continued praising the Congress leadership and criticizing the saffron party. “Whatever had been created by the leadership of the country, especially Congress, in the last 70 years, is being sold out by the present regime. They are selling roads, bridges, petrol pumps, airports, railway stations and power projects,” she claimed.
On Saturday, the former CM had asked New Delhi to draw lessons on how the Taliban threw out the powerful USA from Afghanistan and asked the Modi government to restore Article 370 and resolve Kashmir through dialogue.
This evoked a sharp reaction from the BJP who sought an apology from Mehbooba and demanded an investigation to ascertain whether she has any links with the Taliban.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks