SRINAGAR: While strongly reacting to the statement of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti that Kashmir is the ‘crown’ of India, Hurriyet leaders have termed her assertions as unrealistic and ridiculous.
In his statement, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik said Kashmir was an occupied territory which belongs to only Kashmiris. He said that Kashmir was not a crown of any country but a disputed territory. The people of Kashmir were promised by the Indian leaders and international community the right to self-determination and they were striving for the same right for several decades.
“The so-called chief minister is talking about democracy, freedom, human rights, and many other things but seems to forget about the blanket ban she and her administration has imposed on media, internet, social websites, peaceful political activities, student protests and other basic human rights in Kashmir,” Yasin Malik said.
In a statement, Jammu Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Chairman Shabbir Ahmad Shah said not a single head was safe in an occupied Kashmir which was coined as the crown of India. “Such statements are issued to mislead the world opinion,” he added. Terming Mehbooba Mufti’s statement as rhetoric, he said, “The ‘crown’ is witnessing continuous bloodshed at the hands of occupational forces where people’s eyesight is snatched, women’s chastity violated, and leaders are put behind bars for years. This ‘crown’ is a slave and we’re struggling to restore its glory.”
