May 9, 2020
India inching towards chaos
Syed Rifaquat Ali
Mehbooba Mufti, former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister, who has been in detention for about eight months, has been shifted from the government guest house in Chashma Shahi on Maulana Azad Road near Lal Chowk in Srinagar to her Fairview residence on GupkarRoad in Srinagar recently.
But she is still in detention.
The government notification said: The government hereby orders the changing place of lodgement of Ms.Mehbooba Mufti to subsidiary jail, Fairview, Gupkar Road, Srinagar, with immediate effect.
Her daughter, Iltija, tweeted: Ms.Mufti is home but still booked under Public Safety Act (PSA). Media wasn't given access to her at all despite waiting for hours.
Is government of India scared that she'll articulate her views on illegal abrogation of Article 370?
Time doesn't change facts or erase a betrayal etched in memory. Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti was initially taken into preventive custody on August 5 last year when the central government abrogated Article 370 and split Jammu & Kashmir in two Union Territories.
Initially, she was taken into preventive custody on August 5 last year when Article 370 of the Constitution was abrogated.
Later, on February 6 this year, she was slapped with PSA along with Omar Abdullah. Omar Abdullah and his father octogenarian Farooq Abdullah, were released from detention recently.
The Jammu & Kashmir People's Conference (JKPC) said that the continued detention of its Chairman, Sajad Lone, who is under house arrest, Mufti and other mainstream politicians, was authoritarian.
Countless other political leaders like Bilal Lone, Shah Faesal, Naeem Akhtar too are in detention.
Thousands of people are under arrest. Incredible number of boys are in jail in different parts of north India. Girls have been frequently raped by army men, though it has not been reported since the media has been gagged.
The situation in Kashmir is getting from bad to worse, but the BJP leaders are blind to this stark reality.
Once the leaders in Kashmir are released and people are out of jail, there can be greater violence and uprising in the Valley like the Arab Spring which witnessed thousands of protesters in the street against the government.
When India became Independent in 1947, there was peace, prosperity and fraternity across the country. Hindu-Muslim relations were amiable.
The Indo-Islamic culture impacted all aspects of life ---art, architecture and literature. Dress, manners and festivals, which the Mughals introduced in India, were willingly accepted by the Indians.
The fusion of two cultures in the field of music and fine arts was the hallmark of composite culture.
But ever since the BJP wrested power from the Congress in 2014, the scenario has changed. The BJP government has no agenda for development in various fields.
The BJP leaders are haughty, dry and sadists. The central government has only one
point agenda: hatred for Muslims.
And a majority of Hindus back the government which is dictated by the communal group called Rashtra Swayamsewak Sangh: an organization which never revolted against the British rule in India nor ever took part in the Freedom Movement struggle.
One wonders why the central government is not lifting the restrictions imposed on leaders and people in Kashmir.
And why is BJP government so scared of Mehbooba Mufti? The PDP had been in alliance with BJP in Kashmir. And today they are at loggerheads. The situation in Kashmir is grim.
Anarchy is looming in Kashmir. If the Indian leaders fail to show sagacity, statesmanship and wisdom, to tackle the situation in Kashmir, the Valley will slip away from India.
The only solution to Kashmir imbroglio is a tripartite talk between India, Pakistan and Kashmir leaders across the table.
Brute force by India is no solution to the Kashmir issue which is lingering for about seven decades.
Sanity must prevail upon Indian leaders for the good of both India and Pakistan, the two nuclear powers.
Syed Rifaquat Ali is Sydney-based journalist
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
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