Addressing media, Mufti said militancy had increased in the region since the erstwhile state of J&K was first put under President’s rule and then bifurcated into two Union Territories."Today 10-15 young men are joining militancy from each village because you (BJP) have suppressed their voice. People don’t have an option left. A young man thinks he can either go to jail or pick up arms. So he thinks it is better to pick up arms and die. Because you don’t allow people to speak. They are ready to explode,” she said.Advising the Centre to extend an olive branch to Pakistan so as to bring border skirmishes to an end and restore peace, she said, “If you can talk to China, why can’t you talk to Pakistan? We have been pleading with China to give us our land back but they are not budging from their stand. Why can’t we talk to Pakistan?”
She said that there was no other way out to resolve Kashmir than the one shown by former prime minister AB Vajpayee and what her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed always yearned to see. “My father always wanted to see border routes opened between India and Pakistan. Let J&K become a bridge of peace between India and Pakistan,” she added.
“Article 370 is not linked to Muslims or Hindus. It was enacted to protect the identity of J&K. People are now worried about their future,” she added. “The state flag didn’t appear out of nowhere. It was given to us under the Constitution but they took it away…Our constitution and rights were snatched away from us and today, our natural resources are being exploited by outsiders,” she said.
