Mehbooba Alleges J&K Police Barred PDP Meeting, Beat Its Party Members

Former J&K Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday alleged that youth members of her party were barred from holding a meeting in south Kashmir’s Bijbehara by the police, while they were also beaten up.

Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Mufti wrote: "PDP youth is not being allowed to conduct a meeting in Bijbehara today. The gates leading to Mufti sahab's grave have been locked & blocked with barbed wires. Can @JmuKmrPolice explain why were these young men roughed up?"

She also said the Central government wants to justify its "iron-fist approach by branding all Kashmiris as perpetrators of violence".

She said barring PDP members today to hold a meeting in south Kashmir “reinforces GOIs (Government of India's) strategy of not allowing any meaningful political engagement especially the one that involves Kashmiri youngsters”.

"GOI wants to justify their iron fist approach by branding all Kashmiris as perpetrators of violence," she said.

Mehbooba said the daily encounters where militants are killed have become a "source of celebration" for the Centre, but the PDP does not believe in violence.

"We want to fight peacefully & politically. By discouraging political activities GOI is pushing Kashmiris to the wall," she said.

Later, the activists of the party's youth wing protested the police's action and called for the restoration of electoral democracy. (With PTI Inputs)