Srinagar: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said there was a growing intolerance in the country and urged Jammu and Kashmir chief minister to send a ministerial team to different states to ensure safety of Kashmiris there in the wake of the harassment incidents.
“The intolerance in the entire country has increased. Lynchings are taking place. What is happening in Bangladesh pains us, but those who criticise it watch as mute spectators when lynchings take place here,” Mehbooba told reporters here.
Referring to the assault on a Kashmiri trader in Uttarakhand, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief said she immediately put out a tweet and tagged the Uttarakhand DGP, seeking his intervention on the issue.
“That is why the accused was arrested. There are still some officers in the police who respond. But three incidents took place in 72 hours? In Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. What is happening is distressing,” she added.
She further urged the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to constitute a ministerial team and send it to the states to ensure the safety of the Kashmiris there.
“Our government should send a ministerial team to every state and especially to Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, where most of such incidents take place,” she said.
On Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq removing the designation of ‘chairman of Hurriyat Conference’ from his X profile, Mehbooba said that while it was a personal choice, the government should address the idea behind the Hurriyat.
“It is his (Mirwaiz’s) personal decision. But, I want to say the whole Hurriyat leadership is in jail, so there should not be new camps being put up, or new arrests made and surveillance on ideas,” she said.
“Hurriyat is an idea, it is not a person who can be thrown in jail. It is the alienation that the people feel between the country and themselves.
“You can jail people, you can remove names from a platform, but there is a need to address the alienation,” the PDP chief added.
‘Kashmiri journalists should show some respect for Kashmiri language’
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Friday snapped at a journalist here for asking her to speak in Urdu at a press conference.
As soon as Mehbooba began her presser at the party headquarters in Kashmiri language, a journalist asked her to speak in Urdu.
The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir snapped at the journalist, questioning why the media doesn’t ask Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to speak either in English or Urdu.
“Why? Translate it. Why don’t you ask Stalin to speak in English or Urdu?” she said.
The PDP president said Kashmiri journalists should show some respect for the Kashmiri language.
“This is the only thing that is left now, so respect the Kashmiri language a little,” she added and continued speaking in Kashmiri.
PTI