Former CM Mehbooba Mufti ivokes Lord Ram’s philosophy, says J-K natives still have some faith in SC

PTI, Aug 16, 2023, 3:38 PM IST

PDP leader and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Wednesday invoked Lord Ram and his ‘Raghu’ clan to say the promise made by Indians to Jammu and Kashmir natives in 1947 was on trial in the Supreme Court in which “fortunately” they still have some faith.

The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader, while speaking to media on the apex court lawns, said the matter the Supreme Court was hearing pertained to the people of India.

“This country cannot be run on majoritarianism. This country will be run as per the Constitution,” she said, adding the issue of abrogation of article 370 pertains to the people of India and the promise they made to the natives of Kashmir in 1947.

“We know what has happened to institutions of the country. Fortunately we still have some faith in the Supreme Court of this country. I want to appeal to them that the country believes in the principle ‘Raghukul reet sada chali aayi, pran jaye par vachan na jaye’.

“I am not talking about those who kill in the name of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and lynch in the name of ‘Jai Shri Ram’. I am talking about those of the majority community people who believe in ‘Ramchandra ji’, his vachan (promise) that ‘Raghukul reet sada chali aayi, pran jaye par vachan na jaye’ so I think that ‘vachan’ is on trial today in the Supreme Court,” the PDP leader said.

In Hindu mythology, the ‘Raghu clan’, to which Lord Ram belonged, believed in the principle that you must never break your promise even if you have to lose your life keeping it.

The PDP leader said it is for the top court and the Indian citizens to see whether the country will be run according to the Constitution or “as per the divisive agenda of a particular party”.

She said she was satisfied that the court did not accept the Centre’s contention that the situation has improved in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370. Mufti claimed in the last five years, many Kashmiri Pandits have been forced to leave the Valley.

Mufti said the central government has claimed it ended militancy in Kashmir. This, she said, has been done by the Army. In the name of ending militancy, the Centre has destroyed Jammu and Kashmir, she alleged.

When there was an attack on Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 by Pakistan, it was its unarmed natives who fought the aggressors with the help of the Indian Army.

Mufti visited the top court premises when a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was hearing arguments by senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan on behalf of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference.

On August 2, former chief minister Omar Abdullah had visited the top court and said he expected justice from it like any other Indian citizen.

The top court had that day commenced hearing the pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 that bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Centre had on August 5, 2019 come out with the notification repealing Article 370, stripping the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir of its special status.

Several petitions challenging abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which split the erstwhile state into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh- were referred to a Constitution bench in 2019.