Senior PDP leader says Mufti's seditious remarks caused downgradation of Kashmir state to UT

Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti

Muzaffar Hussain Baig, Senior PDP leader has blamed former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s seditious remark against the tricolour for the disintegration of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.

Muzaffar Hussain Baig, a senior leader of Mehbooba’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has claimed that her statement that “no one would be left to wave the Indian flag in Jammu and Kashmir if Article 370 is struck down” resulted in tampering the “crown jewel” legacy of being a vast state.

Baig, who is credited with writing the PDP’s constitution, and has served as the Finance Minister of J&K, said: “I was not personally present when she (Mehbooba Mufti) made these remarks, but they were provocative and resulted in the downgrading of the state into union territories.”

This is the first time any leader of the former ruling party of the state has interacted with the media since the decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution was announced by Home Minister Amit Shah on August 5, 2019.

While he pointed out more such provocative remarks made by Mehbooba Mufti, he also regretted that multiple politicians have been kept under house arrest since August 4, despite fighting militants and chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.

He went on to say that all three former chief ministers – PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah – all are still under detention.

“They took oath under Indian Constitution and Farooq Sajid used to shout Bharat Mata Ki Jai. These politicians and former legislators took oath under the Indian Constitution. They stood against Hurriyat and fought militancy. We lost our relatives. Now all of them continue to be detained.”

Expressing discontentment with the actions of the Centre, Baig highlighted how the Bharatiya Janata Party had slapped a Public Safety Act (PSA) on Farooq Abdullah’s friend when he moved a petition against the detention of a sitting MP and an ex-CM.

This, he added, discouraged others from taking a similar step and questioning the Centre’s decision. “Others dropped the idea out of the fear of getting booked under PSA,” the former J&K minister said.

Baig urged the government to consider the immediate release of all detained politicians, adding that those who have made seditious comments should be booked and tried separately.

Baig concluded his interaction with a request to put domicile safeguards on Jammu and Kashmir, like the special rights enjoyed by multiple Northeastern states.

“The government has put domicile safeguards via Article 371 in northeastern states. Since J&K is also a hilly region and unemployment is a nagging problem here, there should be similar domicile safeguards, job and land rights in place for the people here.”

(With inputs from PTI)