Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in New Delhi warned that if the special status of Jammu and Kashmir are tinkered with, ''there would be no one in the state to hold the tricolour''.
''On the one hand, we talk about resolving the Kashmir issue under the framework of the Constitution and on the other we flog it," she said in Delhi in reference to the writ petition filed in the Supreme Court to challenge Article 35A of the Constitution that bars citizens of other states from acquiring immovable property in Jammu and Kashmir or taking up employment with the state government.
"Who is doing it? Why are they doing it? (challenging the Article 35A),'' Mehbooba asked. ''Let me tell you that my party and other parties who carry the national flag there (in Jammu and Kashmir) despite all risks, I have no doubt in saying that there will be no one to hold it (national flag)," she warned.
She made it very clear that by challenging Article 35, the separatists are not getting targetted. ''Their (separatists') agenda is different and it is totally secessionist," she said. "You are weakening those powers which are Indian and those who trust India and participate in elections and fight to live a life honorably in Jammu and Kashmir," she said.
In 2014, an NGO had filed a writ petition seeking the striking down of 35A. The case is pending in Supreme Court.
Sources said Mehbooba, who is facing pressure over the BJP-led Centre deciding not to defend the special status of the state, is facing pressure within and outside the party to take a tough stand on the issue. The PDP has lost the considerable goodwill of the people by forging an alliance with the BJP.
The chief minister said during partition, Kashmir, despite being a Muslim majority state defied the separation on grounds of religion and aligned with India.
Prayers held at Jamia Masjid after seven weeks
Friday prayers were held at Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, the biggest mosque in Kashmir, after the government lifted the siege around the historic mosque on August 4. But Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is the chief Imam of the mosque, was not allowed to lead the prayers.
Yesterday Mirwaiz addressed the gathering in Jamia Masjid over the phone. After the address, protests broke outside the mosque resulting in clashes between the protesters and government forces.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted that the state government allowed prayers in Jamia Masjid because the traders had threatened to go on indefinite strike if prayers were not allowed.
On July 3, shopkeepers and other businessmen from the area had hit the streets and threatened to launch an agitation if they were not allowed to offer Friday prayers and conduct business in the Jamia market and adjoining areas, which had remained under restrictions, particularly on every Friday, for more than a month.
