Mehbooba Mufti lays siege to secretariat

The opposition wanted to give ministers in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) a feeling of what it was like to live in a curfew. So, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti took along her legislators to the civil secretariat on Thursday afternoon and locked the main entrance to the complex. Several ministers were inside the building when the drama unfolded.

PDP legislators also sat outside the gates for more than 30 minutes and did not allow anybody enter or leave the complex. Later, they led a protest march and criticised the government for “imprisoning” the people of Kashmir. 

“This [locking the gate] was to make the government understand what it’s like to be in a prison. The government has let loose a reign of terror and by its own account as many as 1,400 teenagers have been arrested. The undeclared curfew and restrictions have converted the whole valley into a large prison,” Mehbooba told reporters.

Demanding the immediate release of the youths, Mehbooba said the government seems to be at war with its own people. “The government has lost credibility and moral authority to rule. The restrictions have brought life to a standstill and the poor are without work,” she said.

The PDP protest came a day after independent MLA from Langate, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, was allegedly beaten up at the police station where he had gone to lodge a complaint against the thrashing of civilians by policemen.