Pakistani flag at separatist rallies will not be tolerated: Indian Kashmir CM
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's statement comes after Indian home minister called for "immediate and stringent" action
PHOTO: TWITTER
Indian administered Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed slammed on Thursday Pakistani flags waved at a rally, calling it an illegal act which will not be tolerated.
Mufti Sayeed’s statement came a day after Hurriyat leader Masarat Alam waved the Pakistani flag to greet Kashmiri separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani at a rally in Srinagar.
Read: Hurriyat leader waves Pakistani flag at Indian Kashmir rally
Hours after the rally on Wednesday, Mufti Sayeed received a phone call from Home Minister Rajnath Singh calling for "immediate and stringent" action, according to NDTV.
"There can be no compromise on national security. Politics cannot impinge on national security," the home minister reportedly told Sayeed.
An FIR was registered but so far no arrests have been made.
"The law will take its own course, we can't ignore law," the chief minister said.
However, a member of his People's Democratic Party (PDP) asserted separatists cannot be denied of democratic space.
"Separatism and Pakistan constituency in Kashmir is a reality and we have to deal with it. We can't deny democratic space to these people. It is an ideological battle now. We have to make them mainstream by giving them democratic space," said PDP's youth president and spokesperson Wahid Rehman Parra.
47-year-old Alam is a likely successor to Geelani. He was released from prison after four years on March 7.
India reacted furiously following the show of support for Pakistan at the Srinagar rally.
National Spokesperson Bharatiya Janata Party GVL Narasimha Rao said the act was completely unacceptable.
“We expect the state government of Jammu and Kashmir, headed by Mufti Saeed, to take cognizance of the matter,” Rao added.
As opposition parties attacked the BJP-led central government over Masarat Alam's release, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in the Lok Sabha, "I also lend my voice to the outrage on the release of the separatist... this is not one party's outrage, it is the nation's outrage."
Mufti Sayeed’s statement came a day after Hurriyat leader Masarat Alam waved the Pakistani flag to greet Kashmiri separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani at a rally in Srinagar.
Read: Hurriyat leader waves Pakistani flag at Indian Kashmir rally
Hours after the rally on Wednesday, Mufti Sayeed received a phone call from Home Minister Rajnath Singh calling for "immediate and stringent" action, according to NDTV.
"There can be no compromise on national security. Politics cannot impinge on national security," the home minister reportedly told Sayeed.
An FIR was registered but so far no arrests have been made.
"The law will take its own course, we can't ignore law," the chief minister said.
However, a member of his People's Democratic Party (PDP) asserted separatists cannot be denied of democratic space.
"Separatism and Pakistan constituency in Kashmir is a reality and we have to deal with it. We can't deny democratic space to these people. It is an ideological battle now. We have to make them mainstream by giving them democratic space," said PDP's youth president and spokesperson Wahid Rehman Parra.
47-year-old Alam is a likely successor to Geelani. He was released from prison after four years on March 7.
India reacted furiously following the show of support for Pakistan at the Srinagar rally.
National Spokesperson Bharatiya Janata Party GVL Narasimha Rao said the act was completely unacceptable.
“We expect the state government of Jammu and Kashmir, headed by Mufti Saeed, to take cognizance of the matter,” Rao added.
As opposition parties attacked the BJP-led central government over Masarat Alam's release, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in the Lok Sabha, "I also lend my voice to the outrage on the release of the separatist... this is not one party's outrage, it is the nation's outrage."