Mehbooba Mufti accuses BJP of trying to ‘communalise’ 1931 Kashmir martyrs, claims placed under house arrest

Srinagar: PDP president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday accused the BJP of attempting to divide the region on communal lines by politicising the legacy of Kashmir’s 1931 martyrs, while alleging that she was placed under house arrest to prevent her from paying tributes at the martyrs’ graveyard.

“The BJP has made the sacrifice of Kashmiris a question of Hindu-Muslim, Dogra-Kashmiri, Jammu-Kashmir,” Mehbooba Mufti told reporters in Srinagar.

The PDP chief said the 21 Kashmiris killed outside the central jail on July 13, 1931, “awakened our nation” and “laid the foundation for the public statement we see today”.

She drew parallels with India’s freedom struggle, invoking the names of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru and Ashfaq-ul-Haq Khan, and asserted that her party respects all martyrs equally.

“BJP cannot put dirt on the minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” she said.

Mehbooba Mufti also claimed that she was prevented from visiting the Mazar-e-Shuhada at the Naqshband Sahib shrine in Nowhatta. “Yesterday they arrested me, today they have locked me up. This is the injustice of BJP,” she alleged.

“If they cannot respect our martyrs, then at least they should not stop us. They should be punished,” she added.

Authorities had earlier sealed roads leading to the shrine and deployed police and CRPF personnel across the old city. The day, officially observed as a public holiday in Jammu and Kashmir until the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, continues to be commemorated by regional parties. (KNS)