Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party should not behave like raiders who had entered Kashmir from Pakistan in 1947, The Hindu reported.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister made the statement while addressing a youth convention of the party in Srinagar.
“In 1947, people of Kashmir had no guns but they fought the raiders from Pakistan successfully,” Mufti said. “I warn the BJP not to act like raiders in Kashmir. People know how to fight such raiders.”
On October 26, 1947, the ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, signed an agreement with India called the Instrument of Accession. Under the agreement, Jammu and Kashmir became a part of the Indian Union with the Centre’s law-making powers over the state restricted to just three subjects – defence, external affairs and communications.
Maharaja Hari Singh had signed the agreement amid a tribal invasion of the erstwhile princely state that was supported by Pakistan.
On Sunday, the Peoples Democratic Party chief remarked that India is not synonymous with the BJP. “The India which we joined is Jawaharlal Nehru’s India, [MK] Gandhi ji’s India, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s India, it is the India of Rahul Gandhi who is travelling the country for Hindu-Muslim unity, it is Tushar Gandhi’s India,” she said, according to PTI.
Mufti said that her party would continue to struggle for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
“I swear by Allah whatever the BJP snatched from us on August 5 will be brought back with interest,” she said. “The PDP is moving ahead on the roadmap of [PDP patron] late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and will take his mission to its logical end.”
On August 5, 2019, the Centre abrogated Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution. While Article 370 gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Article 35A granted the erstwhile state’s legislature the power to define the “permanent residents” of the state and provide them with special rights and privileges.
The erstwhile state was also bifurcated into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh – following the August 5 decision.
The Gupkar alliance, a tie-up of six parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party, was formed in October 2020 with the objective of reinstating Article 370.
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