Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said if "taking away" mosques, the Lal Quila (Red Fort) or the Qutub Minar could help resolve such as unemployment, price rise, and poverty "then I would urge the Muslims of this country to let them (Hindu right-wing groups) take away whatever they want."
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Mufti said, "If they want to take away mosques, let them. But do not give them cause for violence. This is what they want."
Mufti was referring to the members of the Hindu organisation Mahakal Manav Sewa protesting near Qutub Minar on Tuesday, demanding the renaming of Qutub Minar as Vishnu Stambh.
Speaking on recent incidents of houses belonging to Muslims being bulldozed in parts of the country, Mufti said, "It's very unfortunate the way minorities are being attacked, their houses are being bulldozed. The judiciary is not coming forward to take Suo Moto cognizance of such incidents."
She urged the people not to destroy the Hindu-Muslim unity of the country.
Mufti, reacting to the Supreme Court's order on Sedition Law said, "If any student, activist or politician speaks, the sedition law is used against them. If our country continues to slap sedition charges on students, activists, and journalists...our situation will become worse than Sri Lanka...Hoping BJP learns a lesson from Sri Lanka and stops communal tensions, majoritarianism."
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code which criminalises the offence of sedition be kept in abeyance till the government's exercise of reviewing the law is complete. A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli also asked the Central government and States not to register any cases under Section 124A.
Allowing the Central government to re-examine and reconsider the provisions of Section 124A, the apex court said that it will be appropriate not to use the provision of law till further re-examination is over. The bench now posted the hearing of a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the sedition law, in July.
Taking to Twitter, Murti wrote, "What happened in Sri Lanka should serve as a wake-up call. Since 2014, India is being whipped into a communal frenzy and imagined fears. It is treading the same path of hyper-nationalism and religious majoritarianism. All at the cost of disrupting social cohesion and economic security."
Mufti on Tuesday hit out at the BJP-led Central government after L-G Manoj Sinha was found violating rules to perform puja at an ASI protected site in the Union Territory. "Mehbooba Mufti said, "So, for distraction, people are being sent behind Muslims. It includes mosques, the Taj Mahal and others. Instead of getting back money from the people who escaped the country after looting it, they want to contort the properties built during the Mughal era."
( With inputs from ANI )
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