‘No difference between India and Bangladesh’: Mehbooba Mufti’s remark sparks row

Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti sparked a political row after she compared the situation of minority communities in Bangladesh to that of minorities in India, implying that there is ‘no difference’ between the two countries.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief’s statement was condemned by several BJP leaders, who urged the J&K government to take action against her, terming her remarks ‘anti-national’.
“In Bangladesh, atrocities are being committed against Hindus. If atrocities are committed against minorities in India also. Then what is the difference between India and Bangladesh? I don’t find any difference between India and Bangladesh,” Mufti said while speaking to her party workers in Jammu on Sunday.
“We have such a great country, known worldwide for its secular character,” she said.
Mufti’s statement came amid the ongoing protests against Hindu religious leader Chinmoy Krishna Das’s arrest in Bangladesh.
The BJP raised serious objection to the PDP chief’s remarks. “Mehbooba’s controversial statement comparing the situation in Bangladesh with India is completely wrong and condemnable. The world is aware of the worst kind of human rights violations in Bangladesh, where the minority community is facing targeted attacks, women insulted, and an elected prime minister forced to flee the country, besides the statues of its founder desecrated,” former J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
“The J-K government should take serious note of the anti-national statement of Mehbooba and her conspiracies. Action should be taken against her,” he demanded.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Jammu-Kashmir Assembly, Sunil Sharma, said Mehbooba Mufti’s statement an attempt to revive her party after a drubbing in the Assembly elections.
“The PDP is completely finished and Mehbooba is making such statements to provoke Muslims in an attempt to re-establish her party. She is trying to mislead the people by such types of statements, knowing fully that Muslims in the country, especially in J-K are safe,” he said, stressing that there is no comparison between the situation in Bangladesh and India.
Speaking with reference to the controversy over the Sambhal mosque survey, the PDP chief said, “The Sambhal incident is very unfortunate. Some were working in shops and were shot. Ajmer Sharif Dargah, where people from all religions offer prayers and is the biggest example of brotherhood, they are also trying to dig into it to search for a temple”.
She claimed that the country was returning to the situation of 1947. “We are being taken in that direction (1947). When young people talk about jobs, they don’t get it. When they talk about it, they are put in jail like Umar Khalid,” she said.
Former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student and activist Umar Khalid was arrested for allegedly raising anti-India slogans in 2016.
We don’t have good hospitals or education. They are not improving the condition of roads but are trying to demolish the mosque in search of a temple,” the former Chief Minister claimed.
The former Chief Minister added that she has no doubt that majority of Hindus are secular, and the Sikhs, Christians and Muslims should all stay together as they don’t have an option.
During her address to the party workers, Mehbooba Mufti looked to attack the Modi government on other burning issues in the country, including the row over Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
“People are awakened. But I think there are discrepancies with regard to election results because the voting percentage is different at the time of voting from the one shown during the counting of votes. The election commission is doing nothing about the Opposition’s concerns,” she claimed.
The Opposition INDIA bloc, of which the PDP is also a part of, has been constantly alleging that EVM devices are tempered with in a bid to present favourable results for the ruling BJP.
Mehbooba Mufti also attacked the Centre over the issue of unemployment, saying that young people today are looking for employment and they are not getting it. She said that the unemployment situation is the worst in Jammu and Kashmir.