Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said her party did not see any hope in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Jammu. “He (PM) comes to visit Jammu and Kashmir, which he left no stone unturned to destroy. Our rights have been snatched. We have been reduced from a state to a Union Territory,” she said.
“Jobs are going out, mining leases and liquor licenses are also given to outsiders. The electricity produced in Jammu and Kashmir powers homes and factories across the country, but the situation in Kashmir is terrible on this front as well,” Mufti said. She said as a Muslim majority state, Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to India based on the principles of secularism.
In Jammu and Kashmir, a fragile peace amid persisting conflict
“We thought Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians will live together. But that is not happening now. Muslims, the largest minority in the country, are a scared lot,” she added. Furthermore, Mufti alleged that “The livelihood of Muslims, their homes and their dignity are being bulldozed in (Delhi’s) Jahangirpuri, right near the prime minister’s residence, but he is doing nothing about it.”
In his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019, Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of several projects worth around Rs 20,000 crore for the Union Territory on Sunday. In a message to the youngsters of Jammu and Kashmir, the prime minister said unlike their parents and grandparents, they would not have to live a life of trouble.
