PDP's Mehbooba Mufti Demands Revocation of Ban on JeI Amid Assembly Election Tensions

People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti emphasized her party's unique stance on the Kashmir issue and the plight of youths in jail. She criticized jailed Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid's party for its privileges. Mufti highlighted attacks on her party members and demanded the revocation of the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami.

People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti reiterated on Tuesday that her party is the only advocate for resolving the Kashmir issue and addressing the plight of youths ''languishing in jails''.

Targeting the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) led by jailed Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid, Mufti pointed out the disparity in treatment between a jailed politician contesting elections and ordinary citizens whose families struggle to meet them in prisons.

Rashid received interim bail till October 2 from a Delhi court to campaign in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. Mufti accused the AIP of being a proxy for the BJP and highlighted an attack on PDP candidate Yawar Shafi Banday by AIP workers in Shopian.

Mufti criticized the government's double standards, noting the police's inaction against AIP attackers while the Election Commission issued a notice to the victim, Banday. She also condemned the government's persecution of former Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) members, whose schools and properties have been seized.

The former chief minister urged the central government to lift the ban on JeI if they wish for the outfit to participate in democracy and address the Kashmir issue constructively.

(With inputs from agencies.)