Indian Muslims suffer BJP's onslaught: Mehbooba Mufti

Srinagar: People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said that Indian Muslims are suffering an unprecedented onslaught at the hands of the BJP and its "militant" political arms, The Indian Express reported.

The former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister also added that Muslims, however, dealt with their fortitude and patience through the holy month of Ramadan, which was generally associated with the early days of Islam.

In her statement, she said that the bulldozer became the symbol of state terror against the Muslim community. The demons of hate unleashed by the government rampaged in every form of their choice, depending on the occasion and "BJP's Hindu Rashtra roadmap", she said.

Mehbooba expressed her grief over the killing of the armed forces personnel and said that they became cannon fodders because of a failed government.

When asked about the closure of Srinagar's grand mosque, she responded that it is creating great hurt and sorrow for Muslims that the mosques are kept out of bounds for them, even for Eid prayers. The prolonged detention of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is also causing for sorrow, she said.

She further said, "While we would continue our struggle through all democratic and peaceful means, we miss on this Eid our young and old prisoners of all ages who are in jails in and out of Kashmir without any charges… Our heart goes out to the families of those who lost their dear ones in staged encounters and those targeted for their political or religious affiliations."

She also said she extends her solidarity to arrested journalists, human rights and political activists. She noted that young intellectuals like Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam are jailed with fabricated charges, while their pwn youth president Wahid-ur-Rehman Para has "set new standards of resilience and silent resistance to targeted victimisation for following a democratic path".