‘Unite and Fight for your rights’: Mehbooba Mufti appeals people

Jammu, Feb 19: The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday appealed to the people of Jammu to unite and fight for their rights without being misled by any slogan.

She said the BJP has promised to install a Dogra chief minister if voted to power in Jammu and Kashmir, but where are the Dogras.

“We, Kashmiris, have apprehensions about demographic change, but the demography of Jammu has already changed,” she told her party workers at the PDP office here.

“They (BJP) are directly ruling Jammu and Kashmir for many years and when they had an opportunity to install a Dogra LG (lieutenant governor), they did not. They are bringing people from outside,” she said.

She alleged that the BJP is using Jammu and Kashmir “as a laboratory” for its policies that will subsequently be implemented in the rest of the country.

“I want to tell the people of Jammu to wake up from the dream of some rashtra. The reality is that it wants to turn the country into ‘BJP Rashtra’ where even Hindus who will not vote for it will face worse conditions than Muslims,” Mehbooba said.

“If you have to save Jammu and Kashmir and the country, you have to stand up and fight for your rights without getting misled by any slogan,” she told her party workers in Jammu.

The former chief minister said the people of Jammu and Kashmir should take a lesson from the developments in Ladakh where the people of Kargil and Leh have joined hands in support of their demand for statehood and constitutional safeguards.

Mehbooba alleged that the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in Jammu and Kashmir was selective and aimed at pleasing a particular community.