PDP leaders detained, not allowed to protest in solidarity with Palestine: Iltija Mufti

PDP accuses J&K L-G's administration of denying permission to protest civilian deaths in Palestine, detaining party leaders. 1,500 children killed in Israeli attacks, phosphorous bombs used against civilians. PDP selectively targeted, leaders forced to quit. India's largest democracy denying right to raise issues of people.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on October 24 accused the Lieutenant-Governor’s (L-G) administration in Jammu & Kashmir of denying the party permission to hold peaceful protests over civilian deaths in Palestine, and detaining party leaders.

“Our party general secretaries, Ghulam Nabi Hanjura and Mehboob Beg, have been placed under house arrest. Several leaders, including elected District Development Council members, have been either detained and asked to report to police stations in Kashmir. They wanted to protest against oppression in Palestine. The administration is denying us the space to carry out peaceful protests over what is happening in Palestine,” PDP leader Iltiha Mufti said.

Ms. Mufti said over 1,500 children had been killed in Israeli attacks in Palestine and even phosphorous bombs had been used against civilians. 

“On one hand, India is sending aid and support to the idea of an independent state of Palestine and on the other, they [the government] use force and detain illegally those who want to protest in solidarity with Palestine. There is a gap between what is being said and what is being implemented on ground,” Ms. Mufti, daughter of former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, said. 

She accused the L-G’s administration of “selectively targeting the PDP and launching a one-sided vicious crackdown”. “Other political parties are allowed to hold seminars, etc., but not our party, since 2019. Our party was split first and then the leaders were forced to quit. We recently saw that when PDP president Mehbooba Mufti wanted to protest for Palestine, she was almost manhandled by the security officers and not allowed to protest peacefully,” Ms. Mufti said.

She said India is the world’s largest democracy and Opposition is an essential part of it. “We are being denied the right to raise the issues of our people. Is it a crime to hold a peaceful protest over Palestine?” she added.

Ms. Mufti said political parties in a democracy were “not supposed to apply for permission for everything they did”. “If the situation is normal in Kashmir, why not allow the parties to freely express themselves?” she said.