Srinagar, Nov 1: Turning Jammu and Kashmir’s loss of constitutional safeguards into a warning for the rest of India, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday told a gathering at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan that the country must resist what she described as attempts to weaken the Constitution and take away the people’s right to choose their government.
In a speech that drew parallels between the constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 and the political situation in the country, the former Chief Minister said the people of the Union Territory had already experienced the consequences of decisions that, according to her, undermined their democratic rights.
“We, the people of Jammu and Kashmir, have been destroyed. In 2019, they destroyed the Constitution. But now, you children, don’t let the whole country become Jammu and Kashmir,” Mehbooba said, addressing the gathering.
Her remarks placed Kashmir at the centre of a wider political argument, presenting the region not merely as a victim of constitutional changes but as a warning of what she alleged could happen elsewhere if democratic institutions and constitutional protections were weakened.
Referring to the Constitution, Mehbooba said it had given citizens the power to elect and remove governments, but alleged that the ruling dispensation was attempting to undermine that fundamental democratic right.
“The Constitution has given you the vote to change governments. They want to snatch that right from you,” she said.
The PDP president accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of weakening constitutional principles despite having failed, in her assessment, to secure the mandate it had sought to change the Constitution after the 2024 general elections.
She alleged that while the Constitution had not been formally replaced, attempts were being made to hollow it out.
Expanding her attack beyond constitutional issues, Mehbooba accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of favouring powerful business interests at the expense of ordinary citizens.
She alleged that public assets accumulated over decades under successive governments were being handed over to select businessmen, while poor families faced displacement and economic hardship.
Referring to the demolition of homes and the cutting of trees, she accused the government of making land available to private business interests at throwaway prices, alleging that the poor were receiving little benefit from its economic policies.
She also questioned the Centre’s record on employment generation and criticised changes to military recruitment, apparently referring to the Agnipath scheme.
Mehbooba further targeted the BJP over its Hindutva politics, raising allegations concerning donations collected in the name of the Ram temple.
Questioning the ruling party’s claims of religious commitment, she alleged irregularities in donations associated with the temple and described the allegations as deeply shameful. The allegations were not substantiated in the supplied speech.
However, the strongest political message of her address came towards the end, when she sought to connect the struggle for constitutional rights in Jammu and Kashmir with that of citizens elsewhere in India.
Invoking the region’s historical association with the country, Mehbooba said Kashmiris stood alongside those seeking to protect democratic institutions and constitutional guarantees.
“We are with you in your struggle,” she told the gathering, assuring them of solidarity from Jammu and Kashmir.
In a significant departure from the language of political alienation often associated with the Kashmir debate, Mehbooba described Jammu and Kashmir as central to India’s identity and constitutional ideals.
She called the region the soul of the country and an embodiment of the “idea of India”, arguing that its people wanted to stand alongside fellow citizens in defending the principles on which the republic was founded.
Concluding her address, the PDP chief invoked the patriotic verse “Sare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara”, drawing applause for a message that combined criticism of the Centre with an assertion of solidarity with the rest of the country.(KNS)
