A day after a Varanasi court ruled that a plea seeking the right to pray daily to idols installed inside the Gyanvapi Masjid complex is not barred under existing laws and should be decided on merits, former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday regretted the judiciary was not adhering to its own rulings. She referred to the Places of Worship Act, which prohibits conversion of places of worship and provides for the maintenance of their character as it existed on August 15, 1947, and said the status quo shall be maintained at all religious places.
Mufti said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has no jobs for the people, who are getting poorer day by day. “Inflation is sky-rocketing. Except for two people, who have become rich and leading businessmen in the world under the BJP rule, the common people are left to suffer,” she said. She accused the BJP of diverting the attention of common people from real issues by pitting Hindus against Muslims. “[To] …achieve their purpose, demolishing mosques is the best way. Probably, we may not become vishwa guru in other things but we may become one in dismantling mosques.”
In a tweet, she separately said that despite the Places of Worship Act, the Varanasi court ruling will lead to rabble-rousing and create a communal atmosphere that suits the BJP’s agenda and called it a sorry state of affairs.
She said none was allowed to speak under the BJP rule and the voices were being muzzled. Mufti added Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha should look into this rather than spending public money on PR. “There is nothing good on the ground. Every stratum of the society, be they Gujjars, Bakkerwals, Kashmiri Muslims, Pandits, Dogras and others, they are being harassed.”
She said Pandit employees have been left to fend for themselves and made sacrificial goats. “The blue-eyed employees of the BJP have been relocated to Jammu but others have been left to fend for themselves. Their salaries have been withheld and they are being harassed because they are not willing to return to Valley to serve their jobs.” She added the administration has failed to provide Pandits secure atmosphere.
“Majority of them live in rented accommodations in Kashmir. The government has not provided accommodation to all of them. Nothing is normal in Kashmir but this government does not want to accept the reality.”