Mehbooba Mufti, President of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), cautioned that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India is employing occupied Jammu & Kashmir as a laboratory for oppressive measures, which could later be imposed across India.
According to Kashmir Media Service, addressing a substantial gathering of political figures and activists in New Delhi, convened by the INDIA bloc ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Mufti highlighted the detention of AAP leader Kejriwal and criticized BJP’s stance on dynastic politics.
Expressing apprehension about the prevailing circumstances, Mufti said that elections are being tampered with even before they occur.
She criticized the government for the unjust detention of political adversaries without fair trials, citing instances where elected representatives were falsely embroiled in corruption charges and arbitrarily detained.
Drawing parallels with the situation in Jammu & Kashmir over the past five years, Mufti underscored the challenges faced by the youth and the arbitrary detention of political leaders, including herself, Omar Abdullah, and Dr. Farooq Abdullah.
Mufti urged the audience to raise awareness about governmental injustices and called for the preservation of the constitution. She stressed the importance of safeguarding the right to vote and elect representatives, denouncing what she termed as pre-election rigging through the arrest of opposition leaders and suppression of dissent.—KMS
