Claims of J&K enjoying equal rights a barefaced lie: Mehbooba

FORMER CM CLAIMS THE CENTRE HAS IMPOSED A ‘SIEGE’ IN KASHMIR, CREATING A SENSE OF SUBJUGATION AMONG RESIDENTS

SRINAGAR: After the clampdown in Kashmir following the death of separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday lashed out at the government of India (GOI) saying that the claims of J&K now enjoying equal rights was a “barefaced lie”.

The former J&K chief minister took on the government for imposing a ‘siege’ in Kashmir, insisting that such measures create a sense of subjugation. “GOI’S dubious claims that people of J&K now enjoy equal rights is a barefaced lie as the truth is that even their basic human rights dead or alive are suspended with pervasive impunity,” Mufti said in a tweet.

Mufti’s reaction came after a Kashmiri netizen, whose uncle had passed away on Thursday night, expressed how miserable and helpless one can feel in Kashmir with no phone connection and no idea where their rest of the family was.

“The ease with which GOI imposes a complete siege including a communications blackout in Kashmir every time it anticipates a reaction from people is distressing & deeply insensitive,” Mufti said.

“Their misadventure of creating fear & suppression to eliminate a sentiment is counterproductive since feelings & emotions don’t dissipate or vanish into thin air. These feelings of betrayal, subjugation & anger are absorbed & passed on from one generation to the next,” she said.

Mufti alleged that every policy is meant to humiliate people here. “Instead of reaching out, every successive policy is undertaken to humiliate & collectively punish J&K. These punitive actions compound this sense of betrayal and rage,” she said.