Mehbooba’s statement seditious, Should be booked: BJP’s Brig Gupta

Jammu : J&K BJP Spokesman Brigadier (Retd) Anil Gupta on Monday termed a statement of PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti made by her in PDP’s Newsletter as seditious and demanded that she should be booked.
In a statement issued her on Monday Brigadier (Retd) Gupta said that Mehbooba Mufti in her recent statement on X (formerly Twitter) has called Bharat an “occupation force” and dubbed citizens of Jammu and Kashmir “slaves”, adding there that she has uploaded an article titled “FROM CITIZENS TO SLAVES” published in the monthly newsletter of PDP, the political party she heads. Stating that ever since the Supreme Court of India has put its stamp on the historic decision of PM Modi to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35A Mehbooba like conflict beneficiaries seem to be frustrated and demoralized, Brigadier (Retd) Gupta sad “Supreme Court judgment is a huge setback to the divisive politics on which PDP survives”, adding that “PDP along with NC are vying to fill up the space vacated by the Hurriyat to carry forward it’s separatist agenda to woo the fringe voters and pro-Pakistan lobby the remnants of which are still prevalent in the sub-nationalist political ecosystem created in the Valley by them.” The J&K BJP Spokesman in his statement further said that Mehbooba’s statement is not only provocative but also seditious, alleging there that PDP Chief has been time and again targeting the Indian Armed Forces by equating them to “Occupational forces”. Stating that PDP President has not only crossed all the limits but has in fact sounded the bugle for waging the war against the nation, the J&K BJP spokesman in his statement further said that both ‘Sedition’ and ‘Waging the War’ are criminal offences punishable under Sections 121 and 124A with life imprisonment. He further said “Bharatiya Janata Party demands both the PDP President and author of the article published in the party’s newsletter should be booked and punished under the said sections,” alleging therein that PDP leadership suffers from a tunnel-vision and cannot see beyond Kashmir, forgetting that the Jammu region also forms part of Jammu & Kashmir.
Stating that people of Jammu have not given her mandate to speak on their behalf, Brigadier (Retd) Gupta said “the brothers and sisters in Kashmir must be cursing her for calling them “slaves”, the people of Jammu are furious and determined to write the obituary of the discriminatory, divisive and seditious politics of her party. He further said that by referring to the Lithium mines being in Kashmir, the PDP has made obvious it’s mindset of denying Jammu its rightful due. Reminding that “Lithium is a strategic mineral and its mining will enable Bharat to not only save huge amount of foreign exchange but is also critical for national security”, Brigadier (Retd) Gupta said “ It’s mining will change the geo-economics of the
entire region and at the same time make a sea-change in the economic standards
of the residents of Reasi and its neighbouring areas (all falling in Jammu region).
Alleging that PDP leadership is unable to digest this fact, the J&K BJP Spokesman said “as far as power crisis is concerned the blame rests squarely with the Kashmir
based regional parties and Congress which looted the state exchequer to benefit
the few under the garb of Roshni Scheme which ultimately turned out to be a huge
scam”, adding that “ These parties betrayed the people at large to benefit a few of their favourites. Brigadier (Retd) Gupta also said “PDP’s attempt to further the separatist agenda under the garb of manufactured concerns should be nipped in the bud before it becomes an evil”.