Published 21:24 IST, October 24th 2020
Mob barges into PDP's office to hoist national flag after Mufti refuses to hoist tricolour
After PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti announced that she won't hoist the Indian flag till the Jammu-Kashmir state flag returns, a few men barged into PDP office
After PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti announced that she won't hoist the Indian flag till the Jammu-Kashmir state flag returns, a few men barged into PDP's Jammu office and forcibly 'hoisted' the national flag on Saturday. The men also got into a heated argument with PDP leaders - Firdous Tak and Parvez Waffa Khan. The Indian flag was later removed by PDP workers. Tak claimed that the mob threatened to burn the office to the ground, when they return the next day.
Tak: 'Mob threatened to burn office'
Tak alleged that the mob were clearly 'right-wingers as they were wearing saffron'. He added that they tried to reach out to the administration, but nobody responded. Earlier in the day, J&K National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah was elected president of the People’s Alliance For Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) and Mufti was elected Vice-president. Moreover, PAGD will hold a convention on November 17 and the symbol of the alliance will be the Flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu-Kashmir, which used to be raised at the civil secretariat in Srinagar.
Mufti: 'Won't raise tricolour'
On Friday, addressing the first press conference since her release from detention, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said that she would raise the Indian tricolour only when the Jammu-Kashmir state flag 'comes back'. Asserting that the state flag forged the relation of the Union territory with India, Mufti said that she would strive to get back Article 370. Mufti was released in October, almost 14 months after she was detained by J&K administration.
"My flag is this (points to the flag of J&K kept on the table in front of her). When this flag comes back, we'll raise that flag (tricolour) too. Until we get our own flag back, we won't raise any other flag. Our relationship with the flag of this country is not independent of this flag (Jammu and Kashmir's flag). When this flag comes in our hand, we will raise that flag too," said Mufti.
Reacting to Mufti's refusal to raise the tricolour, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said, "Mehbooba Mufti claims to be a mainstream politician but she has reservations in carrying the tricolour. We've maintained for the last several years that Kashmir's so-called politicians sometimes tend to be more dangerous than apparently identified separatists". Congress too has distanced itself from Mufti's comments.
Updated 16:15 IST, October 25th 2020