Modi govt forming proxy parties to legitimise IIOJK move: Mufti

Regional Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti has said that New Delhi was forming “proxy political parties” in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in a bid to legitimise its unconstitutional decision of abrogating the region’s semi-autonomous status in August, 2019.

In a statement on Tuesday, the former chief minister of IIOJK also claimed that the Indian PM Narendra Modi-led BJP aimed to divide political parties in the state “to make the unconstitutional decision constitutional in the assembly”.

“The policy of BJP is to create division among regional parties in [Occupied] Jammu and Kashmir. First, they created proxy parties out of the PDP. Then they created division within the National Conference in Jammu and made those leaders directly join the BJP.”

The Kashmiri leader said that now there was a division within the Congress party as well “which is not happening on its own, but being done by the BJP”.

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“BJP wants to create two factions in the Congress party here as well and wants to use them separately.”

She claimed that the only objective of creating blocs in political parties in IIOJK was to enable only those politicians to become member of legislative assembly who support Modi’s government unconstitutional decision of August 5, 2019.

Mufti, who headed a PDP-BJP alliance government in IIOJK from April 2016 to June 2018, had been vocal against the saffron party’s decisions on occupied territory since the abrogation of article 370.

She, time and again, hit out at the Centre, alleging that it was “disempowering” the people of IIOJK.