Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said the bulldozer has become a the symbol of state terror against Muslims in India.
In her Eid message, Ms. Mufti said Muslims truly lived Ramzan this year in the spirit of the holy month by facing an unprecedented onslaught on the community by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments and its militant political arms across the country with exemplary patience, which is generally associated with the early days of Islam.
“While bulldozer has become the symbol of state terror against the community, the demons of hate unleashed by the government seem to be on a rampage in every form of their choice, depending on the occasion and the BJP’s ‘Hindu rashtra’ roadmap,” Ms. Mufti said.
Ms. Mufti said her party would continue its struggle through all democratic and peaceful means. “We miss on this Eid our young and old prisoners of all ages, who are in jails in and out of Kashmir without any charges. Our heart goes out to the families of those who lost their dear ones in staged encounters and those who were targeted for their political or religious affiliations,” she said.
She said the people of J&K had faced attacks on their existence as a distinguished part of the country with silent dignity and fortitude, and without compromising on their aspirations.
“The cries of family members not demanding justice but only the dead bodies of their loved ones killed in the Hyderpora incident was distressing,” she added.
Ms. Mufti said she was also sad for the lives lost of jawans from all over the country, and brave members of the Jammu & Kashmir Police, who are becoming, she said, “cannon fodder to the failure of our leadership to resolve political problems through diplomacy and dialogue”.
She also paid tributes to young independent journalists like Fahad Shah, Asif Sultan and Sajad Gul, “who, just for carrying out their professional role, are facing the wrath of the rulers”.
“We stand in solidarity with them and human rights defenders like Khurram Parvez. While in the rest of the country, young Muslim intellectuals like Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam are in jail on trumped up charges, our own youth president Wahid ur Rehman Para has set new standards of resilience and silent resistance to targeted victimisation for following a democratic path,” Ms. Mufti said.
