Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday criticised National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah for saying his party was not against the separatist Hurriyat group. Mufti, who is leader of the People’s Democratic Party, accused Abdullah of being able to “go to any extent for power” in Valley, PTI reported.
“He used to say that Hurriyat leaders should be thrown into [the] river Jhelum,” Mufti said. “Today he is talking about something else. It [Abdullah’s remarks] again makes it clear that [the] NC will play with the lives of anyone, including children and women, for power,” the PDP leader told reporters.
She also accused Abdullah of ordering NC workers to create a charged atmosphere in the region, even when the situation in the state was beginning to improve. On Monday, Abdullah had said his party was not against the Hurriyat and supported Kashmiris’ demands for their rights. “We are a part of this struggle,” Abdullah had said. “We have fought regularly for the interests of this Valley.”
More than 90 people have been killed in unrest in the Valley since Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani’s killing, and hundreds have sustained grievous injuries during protests in the past four months.
The unrest in the state has also contributed to the worsening ties between India and Pakistan, with Islamabad criticising the Centre’s management of the clashes in Kashmir and calling for a plebiscite in the region several times. Relations between both countries soured further after a militant attack on an Army camp in Kashmir’s Uri sector and the Indian Army’s “surgical strikes” on terror camps along the Line of Control with Pakistan.
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