Srinagar, July 26: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has landed at the centre of a fresh political storm after drawing a parallel between Gen Z protesters at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and agitators in Kashmir, asserting that force was justified in the Valley under the guise of fighting militancy.
Her comments, made during her Jantar Mantar appearance earlier this week, in which she attempted to defend past crackdowns on local demonstrators, drew swift, sharp backlash from the rival political parties, who revived her infamous 2016 “milk and toffee” quote to accuse the former chief minister of blatant hypocrisy.
At the Jantar Mantar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief appeared to defend past usage of pellet guns in the Valley, saying it was different in Kashmir as the security forces were fighting militancy, while simultaneously opposing police action against student protesters in the national capital.
Reacting sharply to the statement, the National Conference (NC) posted on its official X handle: “If you happen to be a Kashmiri who is protesting for his/her rights, ‘aap pe force use karna to banta hai’ (it is justified to use force against you). Wow.”
NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar accused the PDP chief of unabashedly defending the use of brutal force against local youth and children.
“I am appalled beyond words. @MehboobaMufti unabashedly and casually brands every Kashmiri protester a ‘militant’. The kids, the little girls… just everyone was a militant, she says,” Dar posted on X.
“Even shame must be ashamed today. Her hypocrisy is uglier than what I believed.”
Demand for an apology came from NC leader and Zadibal MLA Tanvir Sadiq, who questioned whether everyday civil demonstrations were now being labelled as armed resistance.
“Are those who protest against reservation militants? Are those who protest for basic amenities also militants? This is shameful coming from a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir,” Sadiq said, adding that Mehbooba owes an immediate apology to the people of J-K.
Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari said he was “neither shocked nor surprised” by the PDP chief’s remarks, citing her controversial record during her tenure as chief minister during the 2016 summer unrest in the Valley.
“This is, after all, the same leader who justified the killing of Kashmiri children by asking, ‘Kya woh doodh aur toffee lane gaye the?’ (Had those children gone out to fetch milk and toffees?),” Bukhari said.
He added that the region has not forgotten the human toll of her administration’s policies.
“It was under her government that pellet guns were used against protesting children. Hundreds of young boys and girls lost their eyesight or suffered permanent injuries because of those pellets. These are painful memories that no amount of political rhetoric can erase,” he said.
The PDP declined to give any comments about the controversial remarks, but unofficially, its leaders said that Mehbooba’s statement had been taken out of context.
