Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti has said that Modi-led Indian regime has turned occupied Jammu and Kashmir into the notorious American military prison, Guantanamo, on the occasion of the G20 meeting starting today with the critical member China along with Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Egypt staying away from it.
The PDP leader addressing a press conference in Bengaluru said, “To tell you the truth, if you visit Kashmir today you will see that the place which was converted to an open-air prison (following the abrogation of Article 370) has been converted to ‘Guantanamo’… Even houses have been taken over. Homes have been taken over. There is three-, four-, five-tier security… Everything at homes is being turned upside down”.
The G20 meeting might give some kind of publicity for the BJP, but a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meeting can help address the problems of the region, she said. “Why not have a SAARC summit and address the problems we (the people of Kashmir) have?” Mufti questioned.
On China opposing the G20 meeting in Kashmir, Mufti said it was a consequence of abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution. “The BJP said that the abrogation of Article 370 would solve all problems. Now, even China is putting its foot here in a bad manner. They are talking about the Kashmir dispute which only Pakistan used to talk about earlier. It goes to the credit of the BJP for bringing China into the problem,” she said.
On the ordinance issued by New Delhi which overturned the Supreme Court verdict that had empowered the Delhi government, Mufti said that the developments should be a wake-up call for everybody.
The BJP, she said, was buying MLAs or threatening them. “Wherever the BJP cannot do that, they have found a different way of disempowering them. This is going to happen to everybody… I hope everybody wakes up and smells the coffee. Because, what happened to J&K, slowly and steadily is going around” India. “It is going to increase its pace once elections approach,” she added.
Mehbooba Mufti reiterated that she won’t contest Assembly elections until Article 370 is restored. She stated, “I don’t see Assembly elections being held in the near future.”
While interacting with the media, Mufti further blamed the BJP for replacing the G20 logo with that of a lotus.”
Amid strain in ties India-Pakistan ties, the biennial SAARC summits have not taken place since the 2014 meeting in Kathmandu.
