Srinagar, May 17: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti on Friday appealed to the Home Minister to “refrain from interfering” in the J&K’s electoral process.

She claimed that during the Home Minister’s visit to Kashmir which concluded today, a meeting was convened where Pahari officers were instructed to support the Peoples Conference in Baramulla and the Apni Party in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat or face dire consequences.

“Today, the situation is that the proxy parties of the BJP, which are coercing people, threatening people, and spending huge sums of money, are misinforming the Union Home Minister. According to reports, he (Home Minister during his JK Visit) called a meeting of Pahari officers who were directed that if they do not support the Peoples Conference in Baramulla and the Apni Party in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, the outcome will be troublesome,” Mehbooba said during a poll rally in north Kashmir.

“I want to request those officers who come from the Pahari belt that you are courageous people. Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing trying circumstances. For God’s sake, do not mount the torments for the already troubled people of Jammu and Kashmir. Please remain steadfast, remain neutral, and we are here for you and will not allow anyone to hound you or intimidate you. I also appeal to the Union Government, including the Home Minister, please do not meddle in the elections of Jammu and Kashmir. The way elections are held in the rest of the country, please allow them to happen that way here as well. Do not engage in pre-poll rigging; stop frightening the officers,” Mehbooba said.

Reflecting on past electoral issues, Mehbooba recalled the 1987 elections, where rigging undermined public trust in the democratic process.

She warned that any repeat of such manipulation could have disastrous consequences similar to the violence and turmoil that followed the 1987 elections.

Referring to Jamaat-e-Islami willingness to contest polls, Mehbooba said in 1987 the group including Syed Ali Geelani contested the polls but the rigging of that year changed the equations, and people’s trust in the electoral process was shaken.

“But today, the people are coming out in droves as they know that in a democratic process, the great platform to express dissent is the ballot, not the bullet. However, if the government repeats 1987 here again, when a political group misguided the union government and polls were rigged, the situation is going to prove calamitous. It was due to that rigging that thousands of our people died, children were orphaned, and women were widowed,” she said.

Mehbooba said that the active participation of people in the elections is a strong message to New Delhi, opposing the August 2019 decision that revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.

Mehbooba held a series of roadshows in north Kashmir’s Watrgam, Rafiabad, Kralgund, Poshpora, Trehgam, Kawari, Awoora, and several other areas to garner support for his party’s Baramulla Lok Sabha candidate Fayaz Mir.

UNI