Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday questioned the Centre’s “silence” over the attack on Iran, saying New Delhi had historically maintained strong ties with Tehran.
Addressing reporters at the party office in Srinagar, Mufti burnt the portraits of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Saying the people of Kashmir stood in solidarity with Iran, Mufti expressed disappointment that the Union government had neither condemned the attack nor expressed sympathy with the Iranian people.
“We had very strong ties with Iran. On the Kashmir issue, when every Muslim country sided with Pakistan, Iran understood the Indian stand and supported it. When sanctions were imposed, Iran was the only country that gave oil to India, that too on loan,” Mufti said. “Despite having such strong relations with Iran, the leadership of our country didn’t sympathise with the people of Iran nor condemned the attack”.
Mufti also questioned the “silence” of the government led by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the joint US-Israel attack on Iran and the killing of its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Calling Trump and Netanyahu “evil powers”, Mufti said the “people of Kashmir, especially that of the valley, and the Muslim ummah are with the people of Iran”.
“We salute their martyrdom, we salute their bravery,” she said.
Mufti also demanded the immediate withdrawal of the FIR against Srinagar MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi and former Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu, saying “it is not that everyone should keep his mouth shut”.
She further alleged that several civilians, including “many young girls”, had been detained by police for protesting against the attacks on Iran over the past three days and called for their immediate release.
Mufti, however, appealed to the youth to maintain peace while expressing their views.
“I would like to request the people that whatever you want to do, do it peacefully,” she said, asking them to keep in mind Kashmir’s economic situation. “We are in an economic crisis. Tourism has started to pick up, it should not be harmed”.
