Former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Shehla Rashid has applauded the Central government for its policy on Kashmir and said that widespread positive changes are happening in the Valley.
Responding to the question of why she has started praising the Union government on its Kashmir policy, Rashid said that she is open to debate on the policies of the Centre and will present facts on the changes happening in the Valley.
In an interview during the ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Shehla Rashid said, “There are people who will say why are you saying this? My answer is because it’s true. I am not saying that there are no problems in the country. If certain things happen, I have always been a critic of the Centre’s Kashmir policy so now the Kashmir policy is good so I would invite people to debate me on facts.”
“There have been court-martial of some army personnel who were involved in the fake encounter is it not what we were asking all along. There will be people who will say why you are saying this? They have not actually visited Kashmir recently. They have not seen the kind of change, the visible change. That’s why I decided to speak out,” she added.
She further stated that there are a lot of narratives being peddled out just for the sake of it.
“There are congressional committee reports in the US that will still say restore internet in Kashmir whereas the internet is in full bloom, 5G is working. But a lot of these narratives whether they are motivated they know. It is a feature of our times. It is polarisation. People do not want to acknowledge their opponents for doing good work and that is not good for democracy,” she said.
Regretting the post that was put out by Rashid on X in August 2019 accusing army officials of Human rights abuse, she said,” I don’t think it was my place to put out that information. I regret putting out that information as I did not verify it myself. Someone had given me that information not just to publish it on platforms. It was my decision to publish. It was an ill-considered decision.”
“I think my information was used by anti-India forces here and abroad. These things become a truism of sorts, army rapes in Kashmir. It is a truism everybody keeps repeating, I did not check it myself and I regret putting out these tweets,” she said.
Shehla Rashid is an activist, researcher, and academician who gained prominence in 2016 for advocating the release of then-JNU President Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on sedition charges. Recently, she made headlines for a notable shift, applauding the central government for the ‘improved’ situation in Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI)
