PDP chief and the former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti has been under detention ever since Article 370 was abrogated and the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh. Since Mufti has been in detention and is, for the moment, unable to spew venom against India and sow discord, the mantle seems to have been taken up by her daughter, Iltija Mufti, who has gone on to further the same old propaganda against India on CNN.
Iltija Mufti appeared on a show with Christiane Amanpour on CNN where she was interviewed as the daughter of the Jammu and Kashmir politician who has been detained by India. In her interview, she proceeded to spew venom against India and Hindus at large.
Fmr. Chief Minister of Kashmir @MehboobaMufti was detained in August, and her daughter Iltija is now speaking out, accusing India of “hurtling towards an authoritarian regime… This is not the country I was born and raised in. It’s turning into a cesspool of bigotry.” pic.twitter.com/zYX3eNvraJ
— Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) November 6, 2019
In the snippet uploaded by Christiana Amanpour herself, Iltija Mufti can be heard saying that India uses Pakistan as a “stick to beat Kashmiris up with” but according to her, the truth is that Kashmir acceded to a “secular” India and now, India is turning into an ‘authoritarian Hindu Pakistan’. Iltija further says that India is turning into a cesspool of bigotry, selective persecution and hatred against minorities (Muslims).
What elements like Iltija take advantage of is the fact that people outside India, especially Westerners have a rather shallow understanding of the Kashmir issue. What they also take advantage of is the fact that the western world has often shied away from calling out radical Islamism or Islamic terror.
The Kashmir issue has been peddled and furthered as a “complex” one, however, at the crux of it is the virus of Islamic terrorism fueled and sponsored by Pakistan. What Iltija will not tell Amanpour is that Kashmir itself has been a cesspool of Islamic terrorism where the Hindu community was driven out of their own homes. That in Kashmir, Islamists 1990 had raised slogans from the Mosques saying that they want the Hindu men to leave, but leave their women behind. And all of this, coupled with severely discriminatory practices sanctioned by law, went unchecked because Jammu and Kashmir was accorded a ‘special status’ and immunity due to Article 370.
When Iltija goes on CNN and defames Hindus, insinuating that the Hindus are persecuting the Muslim community, she will not talk about the rampant crimes that are being perpetrated by the Muslim community where Hindu festivals are attacked or her own state where Hindus were raped, murdered and driven out of their own homes.
The trope of India becoming a “Hindu Pakistan” is in itself fallacious considered Pakistan is what it is because the country is based on the principles of a religion that espouses exclusivity and supremacy. Pakistan’s Hindu population has declined over the decades because minorities in the country are severely persecuted and forced conversions are rampant. Hindus, on the other hand, believe in plurality and always have.
The truth of the matter is that elements like Iltija and her mother who is now in detention want to turn Kashmir into an Islamic colony of Pakistan and with the abrogation of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir coming directly under the centre after being turned into a Union Territory has shattered that dream mercilessly. Under the previous regimes, separatists and terrorists were mollycoddled with the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh getting his pictures clicked with a terrorist like Yasin Malik who had killed 4 pilots and was instrumental in the genocide of Hindus in 1990. Under the Modi regime, Yasin Malik has been rotting in jail, where he belongs.
Read: The Congress party supports ‘Mr’ Yasin Malik, calls him brave for refusing to surrender
Mehbooba Mufti herself has espoused separatism and mollycoddled terrorists from the valley innumerous times. In fact, she has made several statements that disturb the peace and order of the country and her detention, after abrogation, was an attempt to ensure that passions are not flamed by her.
Read: Mehbooba Mufti warns India would burn: It is time to call her bluff
Interestingly, Iltija said not one word against the terrorists who are mercilessly killing civilians in Kashmir. In fact, Amanpour mentioned the killing and then immediately proceeded to give Iltija the opportunity to play the victim by saying that since she is speaking from Delhi, she is afraid for her safety. Iltija then claimed that she has been threatened by the government and the BJP IT Cell without, of course, providing any proof whatsoever.
The entire exercise as evident from the interview of Iltija Mufti was to shift the international narrative against India with respect to Kashmir and in favour of Pakistan. After the abrogation of Article 370, the global community rallied behind India with several countries saying that this is India’s internal matter. Pakistan rallied with the global community against India and failed miserably. With the Pakistan sympathisers in detention, it appears to fall upon Iltija, to further the trope in the international community that would favour Pakistan and in turn, favour the separatists and terrorists.
