Getting rid of BJP will be bigger than freedom from British rule: Mehbooba

Visits protesting families affected by JDA's demolition drive in Jmu

Jammu: Accusing the BJP of “sowing seeds of hatred” among different communities, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said getting rid of the saffron party will be bigger than freedom from British rule.
The former chief minister said the existence of Jammu and Kashmir is in danger under the BJP and urged the youth to stand up against the challenges faced by the country by spreading “love and friendship” without getting intimidated by the ruling party who are allegedly using government agencies to browbeat its opponents.
“They have ruined the country… in the present situation, one feels insecure and does not know whether he/she will be alive tomorrow or not. The arrests and raids by ED and other government agencies against the opposition leaders have become order of the day and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is much worse than the rest of the country,” Mufti said, addressing a tribal youth convention of her party here.
Welcoming dozens of youth who joined her party on the occasion, the PDP leader said, “History gives an opportunity to play a role and people of India availed this opportunity to free the country from British rule. Today, we have an opportunity to get rid of the BJP (to save the country).
This development will be much bigger than the freedom struggle against British rule as they (BJP) are hell bent to break this country.” She referred to the Haridwar “hate conclave”, she said, “The speakers openly called for genocide of Muslims and the BJP leadership preferred to remain silent and those who spoke said everyone has a right to speak their mind.” Mufti said Jammu and Kashmir had joined Mahatma Gandhi’s India and “we will not allow this country to become (his assassin) Nathuram Godse’s nation”.
“They are praying to Godse… Gandhi was the biggest Hindu, a vegetarian and a secular leader who was not having any hatred against anyone, even those who were non-vegetarians,” she added.
If anyone speaks against the BJP, they claim that they are abusing Hindus and the nation, she alleged.
“You are not the godfather of Hindus and this country. We have to stand up and face the challenges together, irrespective of our religion, caste and creed and counter them by spreading love and friendship,” she said.
Alleging that the BJP wants to finish the existence of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti said the youths have a responsibility as the coming generations will question their stand in the face of the BJP’s onslaught on their identity and culture. “Eight decades from now, our coming generations will like to know what our stand was (after BJP revoked Article 370 in 2019 paving way for outsiders to buy land and get jobs in J&K). They will question whether we fought this onslaught or surrendered. If we stay silent, nothing is going to happen,” she said.
Asking people not to be afraid by the BJP’s “arm twisting tactics”, Mufti said there is no scope for violence, guns or stones to achieve the goals.
“If today we are scared, we are dead. We have to face this challenge by digging our feet and fighting with determination. You have to stand behind me,” she said.
“We have to fight the fear created by them. We will not resort to violence or take guns or stones; we will fight our struggle with pen and non-violent manner,” she added.
Mufti also criticised BJP for raking up the names of Mughal emperors like Babur and Aurangzeb in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and said they are misleading the people in the name of temple and mosque as they have failed to provide good governance, create jobs and ensure development there.
“Had they done their job perfectly, the people should not have been forced to throw their dead relatives into Ganga during the second wave of COVID-19,” she said. Claiming that the poor have become poorer and the list of rich had gone up in the country, Mufti said that is what is happening under BJP rule. “They have failed to develop UP and are claiming to develop J&K. They are forcibly taking the land from our people and eying to give it to outside investors as the land here is limited,” she said denouncing the anti-encroachment drives conducted by the government agencies in both regions of Jammu and Kashmir. She expressed happiness over the diversity in Jammu and said, “We need to stay united and foil any attempt to divide the people on the basis of region or religion. They want to divide us and dub those opposing their policies as anti-national and pro-Pakistan. Even Hindus are not spared by them.” She also expressed concern over the arrest of a journalist under public safety act in the valley.

She also visited the protesting families affected by an anti-encroachment drive here and urged the administration to return their land which was in their possession over the past seven decades.
She alleged that the Lt Governor administration wants to bring in real estate investors from outside after taking away land from the poor to build apartments.
This government has no human face and the fact of the matter is that both the BJP-led central government and the Lt Governor administration in J-K is deaf, dumb and blind, Mehbooa told reporters after interacting with the protesting families in Roop Nagar area on the outskirts of Jammu.
Last week, the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) retrieved prime land worth crores of rupees from alleged encroachers during an anti-encroachment drive with the assistance of police and district administration in the area, rendering many families homeless.
According to the JDA officials, the encroached land in the posh area measuring over five acres was retrieved during the five-hour-long drive which saw some 17 structures including houses and cowshed raised to the ground.
The affected families, mostly Gujjars and Bukerwals, are on the streets against the drive, claiming that they were in possession of the land for over eight decades and were rendered homeless by the administration in winter without serving any notice.
Every government is meant to serve the public but this government is anti-poor. They want to bring in real estate investors from outside after taking away land from the poor public to build apartments. We want Lt Governor (Manoj Sinha) to look into the plight of these hapless people and return their land to them, Mehbooba said.
Earlier interacting with the affected families, who are protesting against the demolition of their homes and their eviction, inside a tent near the site, Mehbooba said she will do whatever possible to ensure that justice is done with them.
She said she was informed that nobody from the administration visited the families to take note of their plight in the aftermath of the demolition drive which has rendered them homeless amid the chilly weather and coronavirus pandemic.
The PDP president said her party will raise the issue forcefully and will tell the administration that it will be responsible if anyone among the affected families, especially the elderly or minors, dies of cold.
She denounced the selective demolition and said big bungalows have come up on the JDA land. But since they are rich people they were left untouched.
Even one of their leaders (former deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh of BJP) was served a demolition notice by the JDA for illegal construction near a defence installation but no action was taken till date, the PDP leader said.
She urged the protesting families to remain steadfast in their struggle like the farmers who agitated for nearly a year against three agri laws, saying her party will remain behind them to ensure their early rehabilitation.