Mehbooba raises a red flag on Amarnath Yatra amid pandemic

SRINAGAR: Peoples Democratic Party president Mehboba Mufti on Sunday said the government of India took decisions without considering the opinions of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

She said it was for the government of India to decide whether the pilgrimage to Amarnath cave shrine should be allowed or not amid the pandemic.

Talking to mediapersons in south Kashmir’s Bijbehara, Mufti said the decision to allow the yatra this year has to be taken by the government of India.

“What shall I say? On one side there is Covid, people are confined to their homes and on the other hand, they want to allow the yatra. Who will stop them? They are the owners. Whatever decision they have to take, they will do it,” she said.

The 56-day yatra is scheduled to start from June 28 this year, though there have been demands for cancelling the pilgrimage amid the lurking threat of another wave after the second wave ravaged the country. Last year too, the government had cancelled the yatra amid the first wave.

Mufti said the government does whatever it wants.

“Do they listen to the people of Jammu and Kashmir? If they would have listened to what people want, they would not have booked 15 year olds under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). They do whatever they want to do,” she said.

Mufti was referring to reports of police in Bandipora booking a 15-year-old boy for allegedly raising anti-national slogans at a funeral. In a tweet, she said booking of the minor boy under UAPA “is yet another example of institutionalised tyranny”.

She condemned the killing of BJP leader and municipal chairman of Tral Rakesh Pandita, who was fired upon by suspected militants on Wednesday.

“It was unfortunate. We condemn the killing of Rakesh Pandit. There is no outcome of such actions. Instead, we get defamed here in J&K by such actions. And the whole state has to bear the consequences,” she said.