Mehbooba Mufti attacks BJP for felicitating religious preacher booked under PSA

Srinagar, Sep 21 (PTI) PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday hit out at the BJP for allegedly felicitating a religious leader, jailed under the stringent Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), after his release.

“Religious leaders now released and felicitated by the BJP after being slapped with the PSA were earlier accused of being a security threat by the ruling party,” Mehbooba posted on X.

She was purportedly commenting on a photograph in which BJP leader Darakshan Andrabi, who is the chairperson of the J&K Waqf Board, was seen felicitating religious preacher Mushtaq Ahmad Veeri. He was released from the jail recently.

Veeri and four other preachers were booked under the PSA last year.

“While they engage in dirty political games wonder what it will take to free other preachers accused of the same crime? Ishfaq Bukhari, Abdul Majid Dar, Manzoor Misbahi & Fayaz Shah continue to languish in jail,” Mufti wrote in the post.