BJP’s Kashmir policy ’emperor’s new clothes’, says PDP

Srinagar, Apr 8 (PTI) The PDP on Saturday said the BJP’s Kashmir policy and its “naya Kashmir” rhetoric are like the emperor’s new clothes that the judiciary and civil society have no option but to praise.

In its monthly newsletter, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said in BJP’s “naya Kashmir”, a conman like Kiran Patel visits the valley flanked by security personnel while journalist Asif Sultan is jailed for doing his job.

Patel was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police from a five-star hotel in Srinagar last month for allegedly posing as an additional secretary in the central government and enjoying security cover, besides other hospitality.

“Naya Kashmir and BJP’s Kashmir policy are like the emperor’s new clothes. The press, judiciary and civil society have no option but to praise them while Kashmiris can see all too well that the emperor is naked,” the party said.

“Does it really surprise you that people like Kiran Patel get away scot-free at a time when Kashmiris are jailed for something as frivolous as anti-establishment tweets? Another exemplary Kashmiri journalist is behind bars and this time it’s Irfan Mehraj.

“But GOI (government of India) has gift wrapped and repackaged it as ‘Naya Kashmir’ so that any opposing narrative can be dismissed as people that don’t want to see peace and progress in Kashmir,” the party said.

The PDP said if the Centre is emulating North Korea “then the uncomfortable muffled silence of the Kashmiris can very well be interpreted as the unprecedented peace”.

“Naya Kashmir is probably BJP’s greatest achievement, it’s how they gaslit us all into believing that the abrogation and everything that followed was imperative to peace and progress,” it said.

The party said it’s almost as though the abrogation was a “genius masterstroke, one that somehow managed to elude every single regime that preceded them”.