- Mehbooba Mufti apologised for her controversial "banta hai" remarks at Delhi protests
- She denied justifying force in Kashmir while condemning police action in Delhi
- Mufti initially claimed the video was AI-generated before owning and apologising for it
Mehbooba Mufti today apologised for her "banta hai" remarks during the recent protests by students at Delhi's Jantar Mantar. The PDP leader claimed that she never justified the use of force against people of Jammu and Kashmir while condemning police action against students in the national capital.
Mufti's remarks at Jantar Mantar last week had sparked a major political controversy in Jammu and Kashmir. Yesterday, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and several other leaders accused her of justifying violence against the people of Kashmir and demanded an apology.
Initially, the PDP claimed that it was an AI-generated video clip, but today Mufti owned the controversial statement and apologised for what she termed as "incomplete" words.
"If my people have been hurt by my words -- the words that were incomplete -- then it is because they consider me as their own. They get hurt even because of a minor mistake. I apologise for that," said Mufti.
Mufti had joined the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar last week when she strongly criticised the use of force against young protesters in Delhi and tried to draw parallels with the use of force against protesters in Kashmir.
In her remarks, Mufti had said that violence and the use of force against protesters in Kashmir could be understandable or justified because of militancy.
"We have seen this for the first time in Delhi. We have witnessed this (use of force) in Kashmir for many years. Magar wahan militancy hai, uska ek banta hai (there is militancy and, therefore, it is understandable and justified). There, you have militants on one side and security forces on the other. Here (in Delhi), no one is a militant and they don't even have stones in their hands," Mufti had said after attending CJP protests.
As the statement was widely shared on social media, it gave ammunition to her opponents to target her. PDP leader and MLA, Wahid ur Rehman Parra claimed that the video was AI-generated.
After today's apology, the ruling National Conference and other parties targeted both Mufti and Parra.
These parties allege that Mufti was justifying the clampdown and use of pellet guns against Kashmiri protesters during the 2016 unrest when Mufti was Chief Minister and heading PDP-BJP coalition government. Over a hundred people were killed in firing by security forces and over 12,000 were injured. At least 6,000 suffered pellet injuries. Hundreds lost their eyesight.
It was known as the world's biggest mass blinding campaign and triggered an epidemic of deadeye in Kashmir.
After the "banta hai" comment, Mufti's controversial statements from 2016 were widely circulated on social media. In a press conference with Rajnath Singh, then the Home Minister in 2016, Mufti had asked whether the young boys killed in firing had gone to get milk and toffee at security forces camps.
Tanvir Sadiq, National Conference spokesperson termed Mufti's apology as "weak and selfish" and demanded an unconditional apology.
"You pushed your own MLA, Waheed, under the bus to clean up the mess created by your own remarks, only to publicly humiliate him when the damage couldn't be contained, but @parawahid you can say what she said is also AI," Sadiq wrote on social media.
"There is no 'if' or 'but' here. People across Jammu & Kashmir were appalled by your statement. The only appropriate response is a clear and unconditional apology to every Kashmiri who was hurt, especially the victims of pellet injuries. And while you're at it, apologise for your 'Doodh & Toffee' remark as well. If today's statement was merely a 'slip of the tongue,' are you suggesting those remarks reflected your actual position?,'" Sadiq added.
