Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday asked people to take control of their land.
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“People should take control of their own land irrespective of whether it’s designated ‘State’ land, Kahcharai or common land. Earlier, they would call us ‘anti-nationals’. Now, people of Kashmir are ‘encroachers’. There’s no State and the land belongs to the people only,” Ms. Mufti said at a press conference in Srinagar.
The former Chief Minister said that people, including local mohalla committees, panchayats and others, should take control of their land in their respective areas. “People are being suppressed by one way or the other. The fact is that the sentiments of people on the resolution of Kashmir issue cannot be suppressed,” Ms. Mufti said.
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Defending her party’s decision to ally with the BJP in 2016 in J&K, Ms. Mufti said, “I didn’t allow the BJP agenda to prevail in Jammu and Kashmir.”
To the recent interview of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Kashmir, Ms. Mufti said, “I don’t take Mr. Shah’s statements seriously. Those statements were nothing but mere jumla (rhetoric). There were no facts in his statement.”
She said the Centre was trying to divert attention from major issues facing the economy, including unemployment, by making J&K a focal point now.
Even as India is getting ready to host the G-20 summit, [the Centre] “is raiding BBC offices and demolishing houses in J&K. It will have serious consequences for the country’s reputation,” she said.
“The cause and effect of the raids on the BBC office is quite obvious. The GoI (Government of India) is brazenly hounding those who speak the truth. Be it Opposition leaders, media, activists or anyone else for that matter,” she added.