President of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said that the visit of the Indian Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju to Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir in the backdrop of Waqf Amendment Act’s approval is a ‘designed’ and a deliberate move to signal that the views of the Muslims in India and Kashmir hold a little weight.

According to Kashmir Media Service, in a post on X, the PDP President said that the visit to Asia’s largest Tulip Garden felt like a public celebration of the Muslim community’s marginalisation and disempowerment. “After bulldozing the Waqf Amendment Bill through Parliament, Minister Kiran Rijiju strategically chose to visit Kashmir.

He was given a red-carpet welcome by the Chief Minister of the Muslim majority state – a move that seemed designed & deliberate to signal to the 24 crore Muslims across India that their views hold little weight when the leader of the only Muslim-majority region [occupied by India] stands in support. The visit set against the backdrop of Asia’s largest tulip garden felt like a public celebration of the community’s marginalisation & disempowerment,” the post read. 

Furthermore, Mufti, in her post, wrote that the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s actions deepened the sense of alienation and helplessness within Muslims but also sent legitimacy to the unilateral decision, which had been widely perceived as dismissive of the interests of the Muslims.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)