Largest minority facing threats, says Mehbooba
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said it was “disheartening” that the country’s largest minority was facing “unprecedented threats” as it celebrated Constitution Day.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) supremo referred to the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal, where four people died during protests against a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque.
Taking to X, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said: “Today, as we celebrate Constitution Day, it is disheartening to see the largest minority in our country facing unprecedented threats. Their dignity, lives, livelihoods and places of worship are under attack, contradicting the Constitution’s guarantee of equal rights and dignity for every citizen, regardless of their background.”
The violence in Sambhal, where four people died, “is a painful reminder of this harsh reality”, she said. “This trend of searching for temples under mosques continues despite a clear Supreme Court ruling that the status quo on all religious places, as they existed in 1947, should be maintained,” she added.
Mufti also said the erosion of constitutional values and the rule of law is extremely concerning. “Unless we, who believe in the idea of India, rise up to defend these values, our nation risks losing its unique identity and becoming indistinguishable from its neighbours,” she added.
