No national flag till Kashmir flag is back, says Mahbooba Mufti

Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and PDP chief, Mehbooba Mufti, on Friday, said that she will not raise any other flag till the flag of Jammu and Kashmir is returned.

Mehbooba was addressing a press conference, first after she was released from 14-month long detention, along with other PDP members.

During the press conference Mehbooba said that the BJP demolished the Constitution of India by implementing anti-people laws, she also compared Modi's rule to Hilter and called it "authoritarian".

Mehbooba also said that her voice is being "suppressed" for speaking against the abrogation of Article 370. "The fact is that GoI has failed to come up with the expectations of people over development, employment and other mandatory issues and to divert the attention, the government is blocking minorities and also Kashmiris," Mehbooba said.

Mehbooba also said that the fight of the party is not only about the restoration of Article 370 but also about the resolution of the Kashmir issue. "Kashmir issue is an issue and nobody can turn their eye blind towards it," she said.

On being asked about her statement regarding the flag before the abrogation of Article 370, the former CM said that they (her and PDP) are not going to raise any other flag till the flag of Jammu and Kashmir is returned.

"The ruling party has already demolished the constitution as well as the flag as the party used the flag (tricolour) in a pro-rapists rally in Jammu. The flag of Jammu and Kashmir was the only reason behind the relation with the other flag," Mehbooba said.

Mehbooba said that the party didn't form an alliance with the BJP for power but to work for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. By forging an alliance with the BJP, my father tried to put jinn into the bottle". He knew a Tsunami is coming," she added.

Mehbooba also stated that it was not the alliance with BJP that led to the abrogation of Article 370 as everything was done from the parliament. "It was the parliament that was misused. Parliament had no right to do this. We stood like a wall for Article 370. It was only because of releasing stone pelters, Jamaatis and returning the bodies of militants to their families that the bonhomie with BJP," she said.

Mehbooba called herself a "street fighter" who is not afraid of coming on roads. She also said that she's not for "power" while replying to a question about J&K being a state or a union territory.

Mehbooba also criticized the Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and said him not meeting the delegations from the Government of India led to huge losses and "portrayed a different picture of Kashmir".