Mehbooba Mufti urges PM to intervene in Kashmiri students’ arrest
Says, Action against students will increase sense of mistrust
SRINAGAR, October 30, 2021: PDP chief and former Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the arrest of three Kashmiri students in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra for allegedly celebrating Pakistan’s win over India in a T20 World Cup cricket match.
In her letter, Mehbooba Mufti sought PM Modi’s intervention in the matter. “I request you to intervene so that future of these youngsters is not destroyed,” she said.
“I write to you with a deep sense of disappointment and concern about the alarming situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Not too long ago when you presided over an all-party meeting in Delhi you expressed your intention to remove “dill ke doori “between Delhi and J&K,” the letter reads.
“While within Kashmir youth are no strangers to the state excesses, three students in Agra too have been arrested and charged with sedition for the same reasons. This despite the college’s own admission that they didn’t engage in any activity that might construed as anti-national,” the former J&K chief minister wrote.
“Our brightest young people pursuing professional courses like MBBS have been targeted and slapped with anti-terror laws. While within Kashmir youth are no strangers to the state excesses, three students in Agra too have been arrested and charged with sedition for the same reasons. This despite the college`s own admission that they didn`t engage in any activity that might be construed as anti-national.”
She further wrote in the letter that patriotism and sense of loyalty has to be cultivated with compassion and can`t be forced by wielding the baton or by the barrel of a gun.
“Such punitive actions laced with contempt will only further the sense of mistrust and alienation between the younger generation and rest of the country,” the letter reads.
“Political parties and their fortunes will wax and wane over the course of time. But what matters most is the future generation that will have to carry the burdens of the past yet strive to fulfil the expectations of a better tomorrow. Especially when it comes to a state like J&K steeped in its history of repeated betrayals and past wounds.”
“Wisdom deems it prudent for this government to engage with them, understand their aspirations and goals. I fervently request you to intervene so that the future of these young bright minds is not destroyed.”
The letter comes after three students from Jammu and Kashmir were arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra on Wednesday for celebrating Pakistan’s victory against India in a T20 World Cup match on October 24. (PTK)
