Hijab Row: Mufti Says BJP Wants To Erase All Muslim Symbols

Amid the hijab protests, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said the BJP wants to erase all ‘symbols’ of Muslims like Hijab.

Mehbooba Mufti said, “I fear BJP won’t stop at Hijab. They will come for other symbols of Muslims and erase all. For Indian Muslims, it is not enough to be an Indian, they have to be BJP as well.” According to her, BJP won’t stop at Hijab and will come for other symbols of Muslims and erase it all.

Further attacking the BJP, Mufti said, “Jammu and Kashmir is a political matter but they (BJP) want to make it a community matter.”According to her, the situation has only become more complicated after the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.

The PDP chief said that the draft recommendations of the Delimitation Commission are an attempt to divide the people of Jammu and Kashmir into sectarian and social grounds. “The rights and guarantees given by the Indian Constitution are being mutilated and the Delimitation Report that has come recently is part of that. They have tried to divide the people of Jammu and Kashmir on a sectarian level (and) on a social level, so that the people fight with each other. But the PDP’s struggle would be against it,” said Mufti.

She claimed that the people from other states are exploiting Kashmir’s resources. “People from Punjab, Haryana are coming here and exploiting our resources. They come and take away tenders. Our Kashmir people are disempowered”, said Mufti.

Speaking about the merger of Rajouri and Poonch with Anantnag parliamentary constituency, Mufti said, “In this delimitation, they have ruined everybody other than the BJP. If you don’t like Rajouri and Poonch and you want to create an exclusive constituency, wait and you can give a separate seat to Rajouri and Poonch.”

Meanwhile, National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said that everyone is free to wear to eat as they wish and practise their religious beliefs. “There are some radical elements who are attacking a religion in an attempt to win polls by dividing people on communal lines,” Abdullah said. (ANI)