Pulwama, Apr 16: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President and the party’s candidate for the Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary constituency, Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday formally started her election campaign from south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
The campaign was started with a rally from the circular road in Dangerpora Pulwama to the Sangam area in Anantnag. A large number of party supporters and workers participated in the roadshow.
During this occasion, Mehbooba along with other PDP leaders including Waheed ur Rehman Parra paid obeisance at the shrine of Syed Ruknuddin Baghdadi at Rangmulla village in Pulwama outskirts.
The PDP leaders prayed for the success of all three candidates fielded by the party from South, Central and North Kashmir constituencies.
Talking to media persons at Rangmulla, Mufti said she started her campaign from that place because people in Pulwama and Shopian have always supported the PDP. She was optimistic that people in these two districts would vote in their favour to give them a chance to represent the people’s interests in the parliament.
The former chief minister articulated her campaign’s objective, aiming to challenge what she termed the “atmosphere of silence” prevailing in Kashmir over the past five years.
She lamented the “suppression of free speech and the stifling atmosphere that has inhibited people from expressing their concerns freely”.
The PDP chief alleged, “As the election process has begun, the valley is witnessing a surge in arrests.” She questioned the narrative of normalcy in the region.
Mehbooba also condemned the “unfortunate” incident of a tourist guide being shot in Shopian a few days ago, expressing dismay over the subsequent detention of scores of youth.
“Shooting the tourist guide is disheartening but it doesn’t mean that scores of youth should be detained,” she said, expressing her resentment over what she described as the arrest spree.
“If the situation is normal, then why there is a spree of arrests in the valley,” she asked.
Mufti said the election campaign has been started to raise her voice against the arrest spree and the pervasive culture of silence.
Introducing Waheed Parra as the “representative of Kashmiri youth”, Mehbooba acknowledged the challenges he had faced over the past four years.
