BJP has turned J-K into Afghanistan: Mehbooba Mufti on anti-encroachment drive

 Jammu and Kashmir has been turned into Afghanistan by the BJP which is using bulldozers to demolish the homes of poor and marginalised under the ongoing anti-encroachment drive, former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti alleged Monday.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief appealed to Opposition leaders in the country not to be a mute spectator to the "atrocities being committed by the BJP".

She alleged the BJP is using its brute majority to weaponize everything and "bulldoze" the Constitution.

"Palestine is still better. At least people talk. Kashmir is becoming worse than Afghanistan the way bulldozers are being used to demolish homes of people. What is the purpose of demolishing small houses of people," she said.

Mehbooba said that according to the government even the centuries-old Shankaracharya Temple and cantonment built by the erstwhile Maharaja are also on encroached land.

The PDP leader said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha may claim that the houses of poor will not be touched during the anti-encroachment drive but his message is not being heard on the ground as dwellings even with tin sheds are being demolished.

She said the initial call for 'Ek Samvidhan, Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan' has given way to 'one country, one language, one religion' where there is no Constitution.

Voice of anyone speaking about the Constitution is being crushed, she said.

"Was removal of Article 370 in accordance with the Constitutional provisions?," she asked.