‘Ironic’ says Mehbooba Mufti's daughter, as crowd cheers PM Modi’s Article 370 remark at ‘Howdy, Modi!’ event

Image: ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed the ‘Howdy, Modi!’ event in Houston, US, on September 22, received an applause when he spoke about revocation of Article 370.

A 50,000-strong audience at the venue cheered in unison when PM Modi spoke of his government’s decision to revoke provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and to bifurcate it into two Union Territories.

However, former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter took a view in stark contrast to what revelers at the Houston event had expressed.

In a social media post sent out from the official Twitter handle of the former CM -- which is now handled by her daughter Iltija Mufti -- the cheering was dubbed “ironic”.

The tweet read: “Ironic that a move ostensibly taken to secure ‘special interests’ of J&K gets cheered on everywhere except in the state that it meant to benefit. While people in Kashmir have been gagged, mass hysteria is orchestrated elsewhere to justify this decision.”

Mehbooba Mufti has been under detention for almost two months.

Ironic that a move ostensibly taken to secure “special interests” of J&K gets cheered on everywhere except in the state that’s it meant to benefit. While people in Kashmir have been gagged, mass hysteria is orchestrated elsewhere to justify this decision. https://t.co/Z3cr3BkqDr

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) September 22, 2019

The prime minister went on to speak about how “Article 370 had deprived the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh of development and rights.”

“Terrorists and separatists were using it to their advantage. Now the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have the same rights as every Indian,” PM Modi added.